Former head of product for OpenSea indicted after insider trading scandal

[bbc.reporter]

I am not quite sure where to share this news, however, Opensea marketplace is more on topic in service discussion than altcoin discussion.

In any case, does everyone remember the hype on NFTs when many of them were selling for more than $500,000 per piece? Yes, there were BAYCs and Cryptopunks that were sold for excessive amounts of money. I argued that because of the way the marketplace is created, it was very easily manipulated by one person to wash trade the NFT by himself using 2 different wallets. However, there were people telling me that it was only fud hehehee.



A grand jury has indicted the former head of product at non-fungible token (NFT) platform OpenSea on wire fraud and money laundering charges after an insider trading scandal.

Chastain was previously accused of using secret Ethereum wallets to purchase NFTs based on confidential information that they'd soon be featured on OpenSea's home page. He was allegedly responsible for selecting which NFTs would be featured on the homepage, according to the indictment. From about June 2021 to September 2021, he sold these pieces for two to five times his initial purchase price shortly after the value jumped from a front-page feature, according to the DOJ's indictment.

Read in full https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/149685/former-head-of-product-for-opensea-indicted-after-insider-trading-scandal

[DireWolfM14]

All I ever needed to know about NFTs is they're NON-FUNGIBLE TOKENS!  He'hem, so sorry for my outburst.  Sort of.

Digital art is great, I love it.  Those who appreciate it often purchase prints to hang prominently and enjoy.  It's been monetizable for decades.  Unless the price you pay for your pretty picture includes reproduction rights, it's nothing but a pretty picture.

[crwth]

So technically, you are saying that it is just a way to launder money, and crossing money over borders as well is easier? I read some of the articles^[1] that I read highlighted that a little bit. Because physical art is just the same. So I'm not at all surprised that people or other enthusiasts like this are saying it like that.

I'm not going to be surprised if it's up for super regulation or something. It's quite easy upon a Google search on how to do it. ^{[2] the article is for educational purposes}


References:

[1] - https://kyc360.riskscreen.com/news/are-nfts-being-used-for-money-laundering-yes-they-are-claims-crypto-expert/
[2] - https://medium.com/yardcouch-com/how-to-launder-money-with-nfts-56f1789e5591

[hugeblack]

I don't know, but money laundering is not that easy. You move half a million dollars in an "easy to monitor" network like the Ethereum network, and therefore all these services that track currencies will notice your movements.

Secondly, monetizing cryptocurrencies is difficult if you decide to do so without verifying identity, and therefore when you provide them with your data, the issue is a matter of time before you are arrested.

In general, all of these discussions are not related to Bitcoin, so the appropriate place is Altcoins board.

[noorman0]

I don't know, but money laundering is not that easy. You move half a million dollars in an "easy to monitor" network like the Ethereum network, and therefore all these services that track currencies will notice your movements.

Secondly, monetizing cryptocurrencies is difficult if you decide to do so without verifying identity, and therefore when you provide them with your data, the issue is a matter of time before you are arrested.

But money laundering doesn't talk about how large sums of money are moved elsewhere. In fact it can be split into smaller pieces and exchanged for other more anonymous coins. That is how to disguise the reason for an unreasonable transaction into a reasonable one.
Transactions with nft media, of course, are not aimed at avoiding legal oversight, only trying to escape legal entanglements.

[mk4]

But money laundering doesn't talk about how large sums of money are moved elsewhere. In fact it can be split into smaller pieces and exchanged for other more anonymous coins. That is how to disguise the reason for an unreasonable transaction into a reasonable one.

Far easier said than done especially when talking about big amounts of money, and most especially talking about how transparent the blockchain is. It's not as if they just press a few buttons then boom anonymity achieved.

[bitmover]

I don't know, but money laundering is not that easy. You move half a million dollars in an "easy to monitor" network like the Ethereum network, and therefore all these services that track currencies will notice your movements.

Secondly, monetizing cryptocurrencies is difficult if you decide to do so without verifying identity, and therefore when you provide them with your data, the issue is a matter of time before you are arrested.

In general, all of these discussions are not related to Bitcoin, so the appropriate place is Altcoins board.

It is not that hard as well.

Just like moderm art, there are anonymous buyers. And there are anonymous NFT buyers as well.

Anyone can mix eth coins in tomato cash or other smart contract plataforms and then just buy your own nft with those coins "anonymously "

[Little Mouse]

NFT is still questionable. Founder of Wazirx once shared how to double your money within seconds. Mint an NFT, place a floor price of X. Buy the NFT. Now you have your fund in your address, and you have that X worth of NFT too lol. That was funny but true.

I remember there was a sale of 69 million usd worth of NFT which later turn out as such issue, bought by themselves.
It’s far easier to launder money with NFT, no one will even have any clue even. This will be easier to finance terrorism than ever.

[mk4]

NFT is still questionable. Founder of Wazirx once shared how to double your money within seconds. Mint an NFT, place a floor price of X. Buy the NFT. Now you have your fund in your address, and you have that X worth of NFT too lol. That was funny but true.

You didn't double your money though. You literally just bought your own NFT with your own money, plus your losses due to royalties(2%-10%) and platform fees(2%-2.5%). You pretty much just added sort of 'fake' trading volume for that NFT collection.

[bbc.reporter]

So technically, you are saying that it is just a way to launder money, and crossing money over borders as well is easier? I read some of the articles^[1] that I read highlighted that a little bit. Because physical art is just the same. So I'm not at all surprised that people or other enthusiasts like this are saying it like that.

I'm not going to be surprised if it's up for super regulation or something. It's quite easy upon a Google search on how to do it. ^{[2] the article is for educational purposes}


References:

[1] - https://kyc360.riskscreen.com/news/are-nfts-being-used-for-money-laundering-yes-they-are-claims-crypto-expert/
[2] - https://medium.com/yardcouch-com/how-to-launder-money-with-nfts-56f1789e5591

Hehehe no, just a way to launder money is not what I am telling everyone. However, it can be one of the ways very much similar to those other ways launder money like through bitcoin and other coins. It should not imply that it is bad and it should be banned. Cellphones are used as detonators for bombs, kitchen knives can be used for murder. Should they be banned as a consequence?

NFTs are art and they have become part of culture of the cryptospace. Some of them will certainly have value if the community continues to support them and there are presently Defi platforms that are being created on how to unlock their value and create liquidity for them. The next years of the cryptospace will be much more interesting hehehehee.

[Little Mouse]

You didn't double your money though. You literally just bought your own NFT with your own money, plus your losses due to royalties(2%-10%) and platform fees(2%-2.5%). You pretty much just added sort of 'fake' trading volume for that NFT collection.

You are right but the guy who said this also right. You will have a little fees etc less from your total investment but after self-trade, you will also have the NFT worth of X amount. Say, you have purchased the NFT with 1 ETH. Now, you have 1 NFT worth of 1 ETH + 1 ETH (less fees etc).
Though this isn't going to happen in reality, people wouldn’t but a shit for 1 ETH, but still you own that right? Well, that's kind of sarcasm because of the lack of transparency and a lot of issue raising these days.

[Coin_trader]

You didn't double your money though. You literally just bought your own NFT with your own money, plus your losses due to royalties(2%-10%) and platform fees(2%-2.5%). You pretty much just added sort of 'fake' trading volume for that NFT collection.

You are right but the guy who said this also right. You will have a little fees etc less from your total investment but after self-trade, you will also have the NFT worth of X amount. Say, you have purchased the NFT with 1 ETH. Now, you have 1 NFT worth of 1 ETH + 1 ETH (less fees etc).
Though this isn't going to happen in reality, people wouldn’t but a shit for 1 ETH, but still you own that right? Well, that's kind of sarcasm because of the lack of transparency and a lot of issue raising these days.

This kind of method only works if you have buy power to purchase multiple NFT for your collection just to make it look like an organic trading. In case of the OP news and Wazirx, they have fully control on the NFT marketplace that’s why it's easy for them to highlights the NFT collection that they want to hype. This is not possible for normal trader like us and just like what Mk4 said, it's just a waste of transaction fee.

This fraud transaction in NFT is always been point out by many user during cryptopunk saga. Nobody cares on it so now they are just holding worthless NFT.

[Darker45]

I am not quite sure where to share this news, however, Opensea marketplace is more on topic in service discussion than altcoin discussion.

In general, all of these discussions are not related to Bitcoin, so the appropriate place is Altcoins board.

I also think this isn't about a Bitcoin-related service discussion. But I also don't think this is an altcoin discussion. So I guess this should belong to Service Discussion (Altcoins).

Anyway, the NFT market is a funny market. I'm still amused how it continues to thrive until today despite its mediocrity and insignificance. The way it currently looks like, it doesn't seem to have a lot of potential. For one -- and I'm not a connoisseur of art -- many of what is offered in the market, and with exorbitant price tags at that, don't seem to look like high-caliber artworks. I know there are gullible and eccentric and rich people, but I don't think they are enough to sustain the market. So I guess much of what's going on in there is fishy, especially that the market is really a good breeding ground for manipulation and fake transactions.

[stompix]

I don't know, but money laundering is not that easy. You move half a million dollars in an "easy to monitor" network like the Ethereum network, and therefore all these services that track currencies will notice your movements.
Secondly, monetizing cryptocurrencies is difficult if you decide to do so without verifying identity, and therefore when you provide them with your data, the issue is a matter of time before you are arrested.

This is true for the BTC chain, not for the NFT thing.
First buyers of NFT are not required to verify any identity, nor do you have to know your buyer, and this creates the perfect loophole.
You're an NFT trader, you put some for sales, and person x buys them with shady funds you have no clue they are shady, you use those funds to buy some NFT from person y (which in reality is still x) and voila, two legit traders have received funds for their legal business and their art.

Second, too many focus on money laundering and are not looking at other forms of tax evasion those NFT are used for. You buy a $300 000 gorilla jpg, and by mistake you sell it for 3000, and here you have your loss which you can claim on your tax files while of course, you bought that gorilla from yourself and the $300 000 are still in your other account.

NFTs are art and they have become part of culture of the cryptospace.

NFTs are not art, NFTs are lines of codes that contain a reference to a picture a file or anything else.
Your receipt from a painter shop stating you bought painting number x done by y is not art, the painting is the art, and the NFT is the receipt in digital form.

[bbc.reporter]

@stompix. Yes, that is the correct technical definition, however, I am certain you know what everyone means if they say NFT hehe. The word NFT has become the word to identify the art, the nonfungible token as a whole.

Anyway, the NFT market is a funny market. I'm still amused how it continues to thrive until today despite its mediocrity and insignificance. The way it currently looks like, it doesn't seem to have a lot of potential. For one -- and I'm not a connoisseur of art -- many of what is offered in the market, and with exorbitant price tags at that, don't seem to look like high-caliber artworks. I know there are gullible and eccentric and rich people, but I don't think they are enough to sustain the market. So I guess much of what's going on in there is fishy, especially that the market is really a good breeding ground for manipulation and fake transactions.

It is very arguable if the nftspace is presently insignificant. Famous people have begun to own NFTs and I predict that it might be the instrument that will bring more adoption towards the cryptospace.

[Darker45]

Anyway, the NFT market is a funny market. I'm still amused how it continues to thrive until today despite its mediocrity and insignificance. The way it currently looks like, it doesn't seem to have a lot of potential. For one -- and I'm not a connoisseur of art -- many of what is offered in the market, and with exorbitant price tags at that, don't seem to look like high-caliber artworks. I know there are gullible and eccentric and rich people, but I don't think they are enough to sustain the market. So I guess much of what's going on in there is fishy, especially that the market is really a good breeding ground for manipulation and fake transactions.

It is very arguable if the nftspace is presently insignificant. Famous people have begun to own NFTs and I predict that it might be the instrument that will bring more adoption towards the cryptospace.

Everybody is aware that famous people own NFTs. Eminem has one. Justin Bieber also has one. Snoop Dogg and Madonna and Paris Hilton also bought theirs. Even Tom Brady and Stephen Curry are also in the game. But does the purchase of these JPEGs by crazy rich celebrities enough to make it significant? I'm not sure.

What adoption? And what crypto space? If it refers to the growth and mainstream acceptance of these costly apes and pixilated images as works of art, I think I'm not excited. Surely, that's not the kind of crypto adoption I wish for. If only this long list of influential persons proclaim that they embrace decentralization, that they own Bitcoin instead of images of apes, I guess it could really drive the kind of awareness we all hope for. But, of course, this is just my personal opinion.

[buwaytress]

No surprise for anyone who's been in crypto for a while huh? Nice find, strange I didn't hear this news at all, given how much unsolicited NFT news is stuffed in my face on a daily basis (or perhaps the news is considered FUD and google don't want me to get scared).

as stompix says, on-chain BTC is a different thing. But NFT marketplaces allow for wash trading -- and so does Bitcoin trading on centralised platforms or marketplaces, which is why someone with enough care and experience could achieve something similar on Localbitcoins in a small country with low liquidity.

[bbc.reporter]

Anyway, the NFT market is a funny market. I'm still amused how it continues to thrive until today despite its mediocrity and insignificance. The way it currently looks like, it doesn't seem to have a lot of potential. For one -- and I'm not a connoisseur of art -- many of what is offered in the market, and with exorbitant price tags at that, don't seem to look like high-caliber artworks. I know there are gullible and eccentric and rich people, but I don't think they are enough to sustain the market. So I guess much of what's going on in there is fishy, especially that the market is really a good breeding ground for manipulation and fake transactions.

It is very arguable if the nftspace is presently insignificant. Famous people have begun to own NFTs and I predict that it might be the instrument that will bring more adoption towards the cryptospace.

Everybody is aware that famous people own NFTs. Eminem has one. Justin Bieber also has one. Snoop Dogg and Madonna and Paris Hilton also bought theirs. Even Tom Brady and Stephen Curry are also in the game. But does the purchase of these JPEGs by crazy rich celebrities enough to make it significant? I'm not sure.

What adoption? And what crypto space? If it refers to the growth and mainstream acceptance of these costly apes and pixilated images as works of art, I think I'm not excited. Surely, that's not the kind of crypto adoption I wish for. If only this long list of influential persons proclaim that they embrace decentralization, that they own Bitcoin instead of images of apes, I guess it could really drive the kind of awareness we all hope for. But, of course, this is just my personal opinion.

Yes they are very significant and the significance will only increase. What we have witnessed is only the beginning. Those famous celebrities are not to be underestimated in bringing more people in the nftspace and from there, they will also see and enter the cryptospace.

You want to see an example of how NFTs can be powerful? Adoption will be something similar and powerful as this and not everything will be costly.







The nftspace will be a community that might be as large as the cryptospace. I speculate it can be larger.

Also, in Ukraine their government also issued NFTs to raise awareness for their fundraising campaign when they were in need of funds. This is one of the possible usages that might bring significance in this new type of medium.

[stompix]

You want to see an example of how NFTs can be powerful? Adoption will be something similar and powerful as this and not everything will be costly.

Can!
In theory everything can!

In reality you get pixelmon, or how to spend 10k on a a thing that looks like a glitch on a game from the 90's run on a malware infected computer when your house is hit by an EMP.
https://www.fastcompany.com/90726569/nft-horror-pixelmon-investors-lose-disfigured-pokemon-clones

As a pokemon go player and a father who supports the game by buying tickets and plush thingies (although I must add, they are expensive as fk!, so fk! u Nintendo) it's infurating when crappy games like this try to fly on the hype generated by other games but focus only on the money!

Yesterday was an event day, I walked 20 km with the junior along or on my back with him with a pikacku hat along other parents my age and guess whats, we did it for fun, we tapped some screens till probably you won't be able to take those phones apart just for a chance to miss in 97% the catch of a new pokemon in your bag, which btw is going to be pretty useless in both pvp and pew , but who careas! Now, what if they get NFTs in this and they become tradable and you can freely trade pokemons by paying money and some will simply strat milking the game for this and in every pvp game you will face guys with zero walked km and 0 pokemon caught but with a full line of 15-15-15 with either mewtwos and zacians. It will ruin everything!
You're going to see thoudsn of bots faking GPS coordonates to milk the daily gym drops, you're not going to be able to hold it for an hour and you're going to look at the screen and not understand how two gyms 10 km apart were taken down by the same 6 group of players with weird names in one minute apart.

Make a fun game, make sure NFTs won't destroy the game, then try and see is 99% of your player base won't raise you the middle finger!

Those famous celebrities are not to be underestimated in bringing more people in the nftspace and from there, they will also see and enter the cryptospace.

How many failure do you want me to list?  
The celebrities got they money, the buyers ended with, pics they can see on the net!

[bbc.reporter]

@stompix. I accept the reality that everything is arguable regarding NFTs, however, it appears that you have already experienced how the possibility of NFT can be powerful enough to make junior be carried 20 kilometers by his father hehehehe. Similar to cryptocoins, smart contracts, Defi and many new concepts, I speculate that we are only in the beginning of the NFTs. The growth expectation for this new medium might be gigantic.

Also, yes there will be failures, similar to the many failures in the cryptospace. However, we have only witnessed the growth of the cryptospace after those many failures.