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Alternate cryptocurrencies => Altcoin Discussion => Topic started by: FatFork on September 15, 2021, 09:23:22 AM



Title: OpenSea head officer caught on insider trading
Post by: FatFork on September 15, 2021, 09:23:22 AM
It seems that @natechastain (https://twitter.com/natechastain), one of the OpenSea executives, was caught on insider trading.

https://i.imgur.com/A0c9WwC.png
source: https://twitter.com/zuwutv/status/1437921263394115584

According to twitter user @ZuwuTV, here is one tx on returning profits to the main 0xa3a4548b39da96eb065ff91811ca30da40431c0d wallet after flipping the item currently on the front page of the OpenSea platform: https://etherscan.io/tx/0x54bcb222978a0daa91276edce9d59fab8d276439c797d123c29fadf4ccacf316

What is your opinion on this? I am looking forward to watching this drama unfold.


Title: Re: OpenSea head officer caught on insider trading
Post by: pergola on September 15, 2021, 10:44:37 AM
I don't feel surprised. There may be groups of people doing insider trading with Opensea to promote value for NFT works. That is also the reason that recently GAS fees have increased continuously. Most of the transaction costs come from Opensea.


Title: Re: OpenSea head officer caught on insider trading
Post by: tyz on September 15, 2021, 10:49:04 AM
Crypto trading is in large part a Wild West. Where there is no regulation, the door is open to abuse through insider trading, pump and dumps and other forms of abuse. But this is not a new problem, it is part of the crypto market. And I think due to its decentralized nature is will remain a part for a long time. So this news is not a surprise.


Title: Re: OpenSea head officer caught on insider trading
Post by: cryptomaniac_xxx on September 15, 2021, 10:55:37 AM
We will see how this drama unfolds, this is an accusations that needs to be answered by Nate himself.

The accuser has shown has some proof, so the ball is on the hand on Nate to disproved it. Otherwise it will put a dent on OpenSea reputation as we all know that his marketplace is now the go to as far as NFT is concern. So it people within are taking advantage of it and making profits illegally, then the trust will be in big question here.


Title: Re: OpenSea head officer caught on insider trading
Post by: yazher on September 15, 2021, 12:29:08 PM
That's one quite expensive mistake if you are a victim of those pump and dump fools. Their site is known for its fairness and convenience for buying and selling NFTs and it was just too bad for them if they are guilty of these accusations but we still need some solid proof to conclude our speculations with their platform. Nevertheless, this is just some kind of accusation until they are proven guilty and right now everything seems normal on their platform and nothing new has changed.


Title: Re: OpenSea head officer caught on insider trading
Post by: amishmanish on September 15, 2021, 12:53:01 PM
NFTs are a promising innovation that is being exploited to the hilt now. It has become a closed club with this system of "drops" that are communicated to your closest friends and then you all together shill it to the plebs. The result is that you sell a lot of copied 3D "Art" hyped on twitter at over-blown prices.

The opensea guy seems to have taken this a step further. He is not even taking the pain of generating the art. He selectively pumps these NFTs and the "floor price" is artificially raised. They then shill it through the group of people who are all collaborating with each other to hype it up. This is all just pretty demotivating to see because something that starts with such idealistic promises and then gets exploited so easily by bad actors. This happens all the time in crypto and the time of reckoning (atleast for those companies that are based out of the US) is pretty nigh.


Title: Re: OpenSea head officer caught on insider trading
Post by: casperBGD on September 15, 2021, 01:44:52 PM
it is an interesting development, would say even, expected, there is a lot of possibilities and people are using them

OpenSea is most traded market at the moment, and being on the front page is massive for any NFT, but OpenSea as well did not go crypto-way, with decentralization, they are involving large funds, and the goal is to make profit, not to put users first
but, it is hard not to use OpenSea and be involved into NFT market, most NFT's are first there, and than spread around


Title: Re: OpenSea head officer caught on insider trading
Post by: FatFork on September 15, 2021, 02:51:16 PM
OpenSea admitted and says mea culpa?

Quote from: OpenSea
Yesterday we learned that one of our employees purchased items that they knew were set to display on our front page before they appeared there publicly.

This is incredibly disappointing. We want to be clear that this behavior does not represent our values as a team. We are taking this very seriously and are conducting an immediate and thorough review of this incident so that we have a full understanding of the facts and additional steps we need to take. We have also implemented the following policies:

  • OpenSea team members may not buy or sell from collections or creators while we are featuring or promoting them (e.g. on our home page); and
  • OpenSea team members are prohibited from using confidential information to purchase or sell any NFTs, whether available on the OpenSea platform or not.

For a new, more open internet that empowers creators and collectors, we will need to bake in trust and transparency into all that we do.  We’re committed to doing the right thing for our users and earning back the trust of the community we serve.
source: https://opensea.io/blog/announcements/employee-information-use-at-opensea/


Title: Re: OpenSea head officer caught on insider trading
Post by: pawanjain on September 15, 2021, 04:18:02 PM
No wonder an insider trading case for NFT popped up. I heard something similar in the Solana NFTs too where someone was buying all rare NFTs in popular NFT projects.
People were getting mad at him because he was able to buy rare NFTs in multiple projects.
This seems similar and I think it's quite stupid for people like us to pay such huge amounts and get into the hassle of buying NFTs among such large population while these people are getting the rare NFTs just like that.
This doesn't look fair at all and this might end the NFT craze as well if it keeps going on like this where a few people gets all the rare NFTs.


Title: Re: OpenSea head officer caught on insider trading
Post by: Silberman on September 15, 2021, 05:30:46 PM
Crypto trading is in large part a Wild West. Where there is no regulation, the door is open to abuse through insider trading, pump and dumps and other forms of abuse. But this is not a new problem, it is part of the crypto market. And I think due to its decentralized nature is will remain a part for a long time. So this news is not a surprise.
I agree that this is not a surprise at all, what are people expecting out of NFTs? The idea has some merit and it could eventually work out but the way all of this is being implemented is all wrong and I feel this is going to keep being this way for a long time and as such I have no interest in forming part of it because the only ones that will become rich are the ones that create market places to trade NFTs and the people that sell them for inflated prices to the public.


Title: Re: OpenSea head officer caught on insider trading
Post by: haidil on September 15, 2021, 05:49:56 PM
How not, because of the rampant sales of NFT, it has become a source of abundant income even for an executive involved in Opensea. This proves that the possibility of rampant insider selling is not just one or two cases. If you look at the current list of NFTs on Opensea, it's quite worrying. Random NFT at a glance is just an NFT that we can create and enter into Opensea and then set the price according to our wishes. That way, they stumble and compete for the top spot. Finally, involvement is the key to uncovering activities that are quite detrimental to many parties.


Title: Re: OpenSea head officer caught on insider trading
Post by: Yogee on September 15, 2021, 06:10:18 PM
hehehe this proves what many digital art NFT critics' suspicion.

OpenSea admitted and says mea culpa?

Quote from: OpenSea
Yesterday we learned that one of our employees purchased items that they knew were set to display on our front page before they appeared there publicly.

This is incredibly disappointing. We want to be clear that this behavior does not represent our values as a team. We are taking this very seriously and are conducting an immediate and thorough review of this incident so that we have a full understanding of the facts and additional steps we need to take. We have also implemented the following policies:

  • OpenSea team members may not buy or sell from collections or creators while we are featuring or promoting them (e.g. on our home page); and
  • OpenSea team members are prohibited from using confidential information to purchase or sell any NFTs, whether available on the OpenSea platform or not.

For a new, more open internet that empowers creators and collectors, we will need to bake in trust and transparency into all that we do.  We’re committed to doing the right thing for our users and earning back the trust of the community we serve.
source: https://opensea.io/blog/announcements/employee-information-use-at-opensea/
It's the least they can do. I don't think this incident will create more transparency in the platform. They will just find better ways to hide their pumping strategy and keep doing it. I hope this revelation would force NFT fanatics to think twice before buying these "arts".


Title: Re: OpenSea head officer caught on insider trading
Post by: letyouearn on September 15, 2021, 09:47:03 PM
NFT sphere is a Wild West now - no regulation, huge risks, great opportunities. And also many rich people obviously are using NFT markets for money laundering, hehe  ;)


Title: Re: OpenSea head officer caught on insider trading
Post by: decodx on September 15, 2021, 10:10:01 PM
As far as I can tell, the only reason he was discovered was is due to the fact that he was sloppy. He could have simply mixed his coins or exchanged them into fiat and back again, and no one would have ever discovered him. I don't think this case will be the last; there will be others who will follow in his footsteps. This is why centralized platforms are not the best choice for businesses such as this.



Title: Re: OpenSea head officer caught on insider trading
Post by: wheelz1200 on September 15, 2021, 10:12:52 PM
It seems that @natechastain (https://twitter.com/natechastain), one of the OpenSea executives, was caught on insider trading.

https://i.imgur.com/A0c9WwC.png
source: https://twitter.com/zuwutv/status/1437921263394115584

According to twitter user @ZuwuTV, here is one tx on returning profits to the main 0xa3a4548b39da96eb065ff91811ca30da40431c0d wallet after flipping the item currently on the front page of the OpenSea platform: https://etherscan.io/tx/0x54bcb222978a0daa91276edce9d59fab8d276439c797d123c29fadf4ccacf316

What is your opinion on this? I am looking forward to watching this drama unfold.


I don't think this is any real surprise.  Crypto is still the wild west, greed grabs a hold of any successful venture and usually collapses.  Am going to have the popcorn ready watching this calamity unfold.  Most likely will get buried amongst all the other stories though.  :-\


Title: Re: OpenSea head officer caught on insider trading
Post by: tabas on September 15, 2021, 10:31:46 PM
hehehe this proves what many digital art NFT critics' suspicion.
True.
Those critics that have been talking about their doubts and suspicions towards the NFT market, well, I guess that they'll spear more on this issue after being caught.


Title: Re: OpenSea head officer caught on insider trading
Post by: The Ghoul on September 16, 2021, 01:56:40 AM
It is said that the person only earned 18 eth from this incident. The money he used to do this was the money his wife’s boyfriend used to treat his dog.(Online rumor) ;D

To be honest, if that person is me. I might make more money from it.

This kind of thing is unavoidable at present. In major centralized exchanges, there are more similar incidents.


Title: Re: OpenSea head officer caught on insider trading
Post by: vv181 on September 16, 2021, 03:26:19 PM
~snip~

Look like the announcement is edited:

Edited to clarify that the internal review will be conducted by a third party.

Yesterday we learned that one of our employees purchased items that they knew were set to display on our front page before they appeared there publicly.

This is incredibly disappointing. We want to be clear that this behavior does not represent our values as a team. We are taking this very seriously and are conducting an immediate and thorough third party review of this incident so that we have a full understanding of the facts and additional steps we need to take. We have also implemented the following policies:

    OpenSea team members may not buy or sell from collections or creators while we are featuring or promoting them (e.g. on our home page); and
    OpenSea team members are prohibited from using confidential information to purchase or sell any NFTs, whether available on the OpenSea platform or not.

For a new, more open internet that empowers creators and collectors, we will need to bake in trust and transparency into all that we do.  We’re committed to doing the right thing for our users and earning back the trust of the community we serve.

I'm not too experienced with Opensea, but are those policies are just implemented because one of the team got caught or has it's been implemented long ago? If it has just been implemented, then the suspicion should be raised that probably they/he might do it not once. It is just now that he has been caught to do it.



Latest Update:
Update (9/16/2021)

When we launched OpenSea, there was only one collection on our platform: CryptoKitties. Today, there are 20 million NFTs to discover on OpenSea.  We owe this growth to the vibrant community of creators and collectors who use our platform every day, and we have a strong obligation to this community to move it forward responsibly and diligently. The behavior of one of our employees violated that obligation and, yesterday, we requested and accepted his resignation. 

We do not take this behavior lightly. Upon learning of this conduct, we immediately commissioned a third party to conduct a thorough review of the incident and make recommendations on how we can strengthen our existing controls. That review is ongoing but we are committed to quickly implementing its recommendations.

NFTs enable something incredible that never existed before: they allow us to own things (like game items, digital art, event tickets, or collectibles) in the digital world, just like we own them in the physical world. This fundamentally changes the Internet in a way that requires strong values, organized conduct, and transparency. As a marketplace at the forefront of this new space, we want OpenSea to be a level playing field for buyers, sellers, creators, collectors, developers, and those who are new to the space. We are incredibly thankful for the support of our community, and will continue to invest in practices and policies that keep our platform open and transparent. We’ll continue to proactively provide updates as we evolve our policies and increase transparency in all that we do.

~snip~


Title: Re: OpenSea head officer caught on insider trading
Post by: hugeblack on September 16, 2021, 04:31:12 PM
Edited to clarify that the internal review will be conducted by a third party.

Yesterday we learned that one of our employees purchased items that they knew were set to display on our front page before they appeared there publicly.


Such promises will not solve the problem and will affect the platform’s reputation in the future. If they are serious about taking a solution to the problem, they should start implementing some steps:

 - Hiring a third party to ensure that there is no tampering with the platform, especially among employees.
 - Careful examination of everyone who has access to this sensitive information, which may affect sales, and to ensure that there is no conflict of interest.
 - Attempting to change the current system to ensure transparency without the need for a third party.

without above things, they are give fake promises.


Title: Re: OpenSea head officer caught on insider trading
Post by: lizarder on September 16, 2021, 05:19:02 PM
It seems that @natechastain (https://twitter.com/natechastain), one of the OpenSea executives, was caught on insider trading.

https://i.imgur.com/A0c9WwC.png
source: https://twitter.com/zuwutv/status/1437921263394115584

According to twitter user @ZuwuTV, here is one tx on returning profits to the main 0xa3a4548b39da96eb065ff91811ca30da40431c0d wallet after flipping the item currently on the front page of the OpenSea platform: https://etherscan.io/tx/0x54bcb222978a0daa91276edce9d59fab8d276439c797d123c29fadf4ccacf316

What is your opinion on this? I am looking forward to watching this drama unfold.


The value of gas is getting higher, caused by some people who trade in NFT, who can't be controlled in promoting their art, basically NFT provides room for everyone to trade art, but there are limits that must be considered so that art works it can provide good value in the future, otherwise the higher gas will be a problem in the future.


Title: Re: OpenSea head officer caught on insider trading
Post by: bitcon on September 17, 2021, 06:33:45 AM
I have heard the same story and it is one of the problems of the NFT-market that must be solved in the future. People can just buy their own works from other wallets to add value to their works. Nobody can be sure if all expensive works were bought by a real collector, or by its creator, for example.

This system is unregulated, so we can have only guesses and very few facts.  :-X


Title: Re: OpenSea head officer caught on insider trading
Post by: criket on September 17, 2021, 06:43:47 AM
I have heard the same story and it is one of the problems of the NFT-market that must be solved in the future. People can just buy their own works from other wallets to add value to their works. Nobody can be sure if all expensive works were bought by a real collector, or by its creator, for example.

This system is unregulated, so we can have only guesses and very few facts.  :-X
this drama must be finished immediately and must find a solution for the future.
if it's like this, and let it continue. an amateur can make an NFT work and buy it himself at a very high price. only to increase the popularity of his work. or rather to defraud some other investors in the NFT market.
The fear that had been disputed in the NFT project and market has finally become a reality. and we see one drama that might end badly for the NFT market.


Title: Re: OpenSea head officer caught on insider trading
Post by: lizarder on September 17, 2021, 05:12:16 PM
I have heard the same story and it is one of the problems of the NFT-market that must be solved in the future. People can just buy their own works from other wallets to add value to their works. Nobody can be sure if all expensive works were bought by a real collector, or by its creator, for example.

This system is unregulated, so we can have only guesses and very few facts.  :-X
this drama must be finished immediately and must find a solution for the future.
if it's like this, and let it continue. an amateur can make an NFT work and buy it himself at a very high price. only to increase the popularity of his work. or rather to defraud some other investors in the NFT market.
The fear that had been disputed in the NFT project and market has finally become a reality. and we see one drama that might end badly for the NFT market.

Currently the drama cannot be controlled by the NFT, because what happens is that everyone can make art and sell it freely in the market from the work, although many frauds are carried out because there is no special prohibition they made to limit each work of art through the authorities. In certain cases, if this cannot be controlled, it is very likely that in the future NFT will have problems and will be increasingly abandoned in the future.


Title: Re: OpenSea head officer caught on insider trading
Post by: vv181 on September 17, 2021, 07:22:47 PM
~snip~
Have you seen the latest update from them? I've updated it on my post, the one you quoted.

I think Opensea are letting the third party give em recommendations, they rely upon the third party to solve what should be done to the problem, I guess we can see your #1 and #2 points if it does become one of the recommendations that the third party give or not.

Regarding transparency, on the latest update, they emphasize a lot of the will to improve the transparency within the platforms. Anyway, We'll see how this will play out.



Title: Re: OpenSea head officer caught on insider trading
Post by: Silberman on September 18, 2021, 04:44:34 PM
As far as I can tell, the only reason he was discovered was is due to the fact that he was sloppy. He could have simply mixed his coins or exchanged them into fiat and back again, and no one would have ever discovered him. I don't think this case will be the last; there will be others who will follow in his footsteps. This is why centralized platforms are not the best choice for businesses such as this.


People need to remember this when they are trading or investing in altcoins, the manipulation in that market is extreme and most of the time you are not going to have any legal way to get that money back even if something like this eventually comes up, so I would advice people to be incredibly careful as once your coins are outside your wallet and then something like this occurs there is not chance you will see those coins back, however I doubt many people will follow this advice as the greed is too strong in this market.


Title: Re: OpenSea head officer caught on insider trading
Post by: iTradeChips on September 18, 2021, 05:38:31 PM
This is where the decentralization part will come in. Like many has said before, this is the wild wild west of cryptocurrency. There is really no big regulating committee or companies that regulate the use of cryptocurrencies and how it is being implemented. Of course like stock market, cryptocurrency can also be a front for inside trading where those who has access to valuable information will be powerful and will be able to amass so so much that it would be disadvantageous to those who will buy high. Such a sad thought of people also doing it in crypto.


Title: Re: OpenSea head officer caught on insider trading
Post by: Silberman on September 21, 2021, 04:44:31 PM
It’s common now!! Nowdays people so much greedy they Don't care about people they just care about money
Something like this was bound to happen as it happens in all the markets however that is not the problem, the problem is that there are no consequences for this kind of behavior, if this happened in the stock market even if the person doing it was very powerful you can be sure that they will spend some time in jail, do I believe this is going to happen in this case? Of course not, and as such something like this is going to keep happening until those which do this face the consequences of their actions.