Community

Reddit crypto community goes offline — Here’s why

June 12, 2023 Coin Telegraph

API

Reddit communities unanimously decided to go private or in read-only modes from June 12 to 14, protesting against an upcoming change that would prevent users from freely accessing APIs and tools.

Numerous sub-communities on Reddit, including popular crypto subreddits, unanimously decided to go private for 48 hours to protest against new company policies that prevent the use of third-party applications.

In April, Reddit announced plans to modify how users interact with the Reddit Data application programming interface (API) — a seven-year-old application enabling developers to create tools and utilities for moderation and other activities.

Most subreddits reacted to the move, as Reddit’s intention to build native moderator tools directly impacts the community’s ability to create and use third-party tools predominantly used for moderating content and interactions. As a result, communities decided to go private or in read-only modes between June 12 and 14, protesting the upcoming change.

*Subreddit r/Bitcoin went private. Source: Reddit*

The list includes major crypto communities, which have been instrumental for millions of investors worldwide to discuss various aspects of the ecosystem.

*Subreddit r/CryptoCurrency participated in the Reddit blackout. Source: Reddit*

Some popular subreddits dedicated to discussing Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrencies protesting against the change include r/Bitcoin, r/CryptoCurrency and r/cardano. Reddit has also received backlash for introducing paid access to its data API.

*A screenshot showing the upcoming changes shared by Reddit. Source: Reddit*

While nearly 3,500 subreddits were estimated to become inaccessible, the numbers could increase if other communities join the revolt. On the other hand, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman backed the social media platform’s decision by revealing the need for being “a self-sustaining business.” He said:

“We respect when you and your communities take action to highlight the things you need, including, at times, going private.”

Moreover, to eradicate the extensive use of third-party moderator tools, Reddit plans to launch mobile moderator tools for Reddit’s iOS and Android apps in the coming months.

Contrary to the ongoing community retaliation, Reddit is close to achieving a new milestone in terms of collectible avatar holders on the platform.

Reddit managed to amass 10 million holders of its collectible avatars within a year of launching Reddit NFTs.

*Reddit’s collectible avatar banner. Source: Reddit*

Reddit’s collectible avatar marketplace was launched on the Ethereum layer-2 scaling network Polygon in July 2022, which allows independent artists and Redditors to design customizable nonfungible token collections.

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Bitcoin evangelist Joe Hall tells The Agenda why he thinks BTC will conquer the world

June 7, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin Community

Bitcoin has a marketing problem, but journalist and BTC evangelist Joe Hall is doing his best to fix it.

“Bitcoin has such a marketing problem.”

At least, that’s what came to mind for Bitcoin (BTC) advocate and Cointelegraph reporter Joe Hall when he was asked about the weaknesses and strengths of the popular cryptocurrency.

While not labeling himself a “Bitcoin maximalist,” Hall believes that most people — including crypto OGs — are shockingly unaware of what Bitcoin can do; and for this reason, he questions the necessity and future of most altcoin projects.

“They’re doing it with imperfect solutions that in the long term will rug-pull them or close enough to that. Because, let’s be honest, all of these crypto projects eventually collapse into Bitcoin, or they eventually collapse full stop. I mean, we saw enough of that last year. And, you know, in 10, 15, 20, maybe 40 years’ time, will Bitcoin still be running? 1,000%. Will Ethereum still be running? Question marks. And will the other 20-ish thousand crypto projects still be going strong? I’m pretty confident they won’t be.”

Hall proved his point by asking co-hosts Jonathan DeYoung and Ray Salmond to open up their Bitcoin Lightning wallets to accept the equivalent of $5 in satoshis. And after DeYoung downloaded the wallet and received the payment, both co-hosts were astonished at the speed of the transaction.

On Episode 13 of The Agenda podcast, Salmond and DeYoung spoke with Hall about his views on Bitcoin adoption and its “marketing problem,” his ultimate vision of how Bitcoin could eventually conquer the financial world, and how his experience as a Bitcoin evangelist has connected him with people all around the world.

It’s more than just money

Hall believes that Bitcoin is more than just money: It’s a revolution, a lifestyle, a binder of people and a builder of community.

Hall said:

“Bitcoin, to me, in my own words: It’s an expression of how we approach the world, I guess. I mean, it’s had an impact on me, in terms of my approach to people, to different cultures and in the way in which I interact with people — despite the fact that it is just a bunch of code on a screen. And because it’s rewired the way in which I look at the world and consider things, it’s taught me to be more skeptical and to not take things at face value. But it’s also delivered a lot of hope and a lot of sort of meaning to my existence that perhaps wasn’t there previously.”

Hall has elected to only live off Bitcoin for day-to-day expenses, excluding when he has to pay European Union taxes. As to why he is such a strong believer in the digital currency, Hall shared, “We can’t live in a world that is governed by growth at all costs when we have one finite, very precious planet.”

“Bitcoin, for me, it appeals to me because of the way that it flips that all on its head. You know, we have a deflationary currency, there’s only going to be 21 million, and we can rebuild our economic system off that in a way that raises all boats, not just the elite few. And it tackles things like the wealth gap and wealth inequality. It tackles things like the environment and the way in which, you know, Bitcoin mining could be this transition to using more and more renewable energies.”

To hear more from Hall’s conversation with The Agenda — including Hall’s future vision for Bitcoin and his fascination with the Lightning Network — listen to the full episode on Cointelegraph’s Podcasts page, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And don’t forget to check out Cointelegraph’s full lineup of other shows!

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This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Crypto community’s ‘send ETH’ tweets spark various theories and warnings

May 31, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Several social media accounts followed the trend, with one requesting ETH to purchase an NFT and another pledging to spend the money on drugs.

A new trend where social media influencers ask for Ether (ETH) in exchange for nothing has taken over Twitter, grabbing the attention of many onlookers. The trend sparked various theories, from being a publicity play to money laundering.

Attempting to get a slice of some of the recent “memecoin magic,” an influencer tried to promote their wallet address and promised to deliver nothing. A wallet address called “yougetnothing.eth” has received more than $1 million worth of ETH in the 24 hours since it was created.

With the address receiving a lot of funds, many other social media accounts attempted to do the same, hoping to get some ETH for themselves. One asked for ETH to buy a nonfungible token, while another promised to spend it all on “hookers and cocaine.“

Amid the trend, many others deployed satire and started to promote an Ethereum burn wallet, making fun of people who may be sending their funds to random addresses.

Raised 0 eth (0%)

Ordering a new life once I reach $1,000,000 so my life can change

Send me eth: 0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000000

(You get nothing in return. This is a donation)
— Emperor.SOL (@Solana_Emperor) May 30, 2023

Meanwhile, another influencer claimed they did it as an experiment and only had one person donate to them. The social media account concluded that this trend was a strategy to get traction and attention by sending ETH to themselves.

On Reddit, the trend received negative feedback from the community. A Redditor highlighted that the Twitter account only had around 68,000 followers and did not believe the funds were from the community. The Reddit user suggested it could be a money laundering attempt, where “dirty ETH” are being sent as donations.

Redditor pointing out some suspicious transactions to the wallet. Source: Reddit

Another community member shared that one of the accounts was only a week old and had received 544 ETH from an exchange that didn’t require Know Your Customer checks. Furthermore, the community member suggested that there seemed to be a pattern in the donation amounts.

On May 31, former United States Securities and Exchange Commission chief John Reed Stark sent a warning to social media influencers who manipulate crypto prices. According to Stark, these influencers will eventually be caught and face penalties.

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Arbitrum’s DAO to receive over 3,350 ETH revenue from transaction fees

May 10, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Arbitrum

Proceeds come from base fees and surplus revenue generated from network transactions. The incentive follows a recent clash between Arbitrum's team and its community.

Ethereum layer-2 blockchain Arbitrum will distribute ETH (ETH) tokens worth nearly $6.2 million to its decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), the project announced May 9 on Twitter. ARB holders must claim the rewards.

The funds to be collected are base fees and surplus revenue generated from network transactions. According to Arbitrum's tweet, a total of 3,352 ETH will be collected by its DAO. As internet-native organizations, DAOs are collectively owned and managed by their members. They have treasuries and make decisions through proposals voted on by the group.

Big news Arbinauts!

Arbitrum is the only rollup that sends all surplus revenue generated by transaction fees to their respective DAO and it is time for the DAO to collect the funds so far!

Follow along to learn more about it.
— Arbitrum (,) (@arbitrum) May 10, 2023

Arbitrum is a popular scaling network used by many decentralized applications (dApps) and blockchain developers. All users pay a fee during transactions on Arbitrum One.

The cost of sending ETH on Arbitrum is currently at $0.25 and swapping tokens is $0.68 at the time of writing. Data from CryptoFees shows that Arbitrum's users paid $387,423 in fees over the past seven days.

Each fee paid on Arbitrum One is divided into two sections — L1 fee and L2 fee. According to the protocol, the L1 fee covers the cost of posting a transaction on the Ethereum network and the L2 fee covers the cost of running the network.

A revenue breakdown reveals around 582 ETH of surplus funds generated from the L1 fee, nearly 1,308 ETH from base fees and 1,462 ETH surplus from the L2 fee. Combined, this represents revenue of 3,352 ETH for Arbitrum's DAO.

According to the proposal discussion on Arbitrum's governance forum, the protocol will create a mechanism for revenue distribution that will be triggered periodically by a smart contract. Only delegated ARB tokens will be eligible for revenue distribution, and holders must claim their rewards.

Arbitrum says the move will "align community incentives and give ARB a purpose beyond a worthless governance token." Most community members support the proposal, according to the governance forum. Some members, however, highlighted that the revenue distribution might further serve to classify the ARB token as a security.

*Community member comments on Arbitrum’s "Distribution of DAO Revenue to ARB token holders” proposal. Source: Arbitrum Foundation.*

Arbitrum's incentive program was launched after the protocol team clashed with its community over a nearly $1 billion fund transfer that wasn't approved by ARB holders.

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2 reasons why Bitcoin Ordinals are ‘positive’ for the BTC: Grayscale

May 1, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin Community

Ordinals have been a controversial topic within the Bitcoin community but crypto investment firm Grayscale says there’s two main reasons to be optimistic.

Bitcoin (BTC) Ordinals — also known by some as Bitcoin NFTs — could renew developer enthusiasm for Bitcoin and boost mining fees, according to cryptocurrency investment firm Grayscale.

In an April 27 “Market Byte” blog post, the firm suggested that Ordinals provide two key benefits to the growth and development of the Bitcoin ecosystem.

#Ordinals have generated a great deal of attention in the crypto ecosystem by introducing #NFT-like assets on the #Bitcoin blockchain. @mzhao8 and our research team explore their potential in our latest Market Byte:
https://t.co/7muc9Lyrok
— Grayscale (@Grayscale) April 28, 2023

The first is a substantial increase in fees paid to miners, which has been seen since the launch of the protocol in January, according to Grayscale.

“The advent of ordinals has led to an increase in total fees paid to miners [...] which could potentially establish a sustainable baseline level of transaction fees to incentivize miners.”

Grayscale argued that this would ensure "continued network security throughout the lifetime of the Bitcoin network.”

As reported by Cointelegraph, in less than two months after its launch, more than $600,000 was paid to Bitcoin miners, solely as the result of fees generated by Ordinal inscriptions. As of the time of publication, that figure now exceeds the $6.5 million mark.

*Fees spent on inscribing Ordinal NFTs on the Bitcoin blockchain. Source:* Dune Analytics

The investment firm also believes that Ordinals and the “velocity of NFT adoption” could also attract new Bitcoin users and spark more development on the Bitcoin network.

"We believe the emergence of ordinals is likely to promote a development-oriented community and culture in support of the Bitcoin network."

On April 30, Ordinals reached a new record, with the number of daily inscriptions topping 300,000.

Around the same time, the number of Bitcoin transactions neared peaks not seen in a number of years, according to blockchain data firm IntoTheBlock.

The meteoric rise of Ordinals has been a controversial topic in the wider Bitcoin community, having been extensively criticized by Bitcoin maximalists for straying from the original purpose of Bitcoin as a peer-to-peer electronic currency and clogging up valuable block space.

One such critic is Blockstream CEO Adam Back, who has made a number of comments in which he declared Ordinals to be “useless,” and claimed that he is “more into Bitcoin as a currency.”

"you can't stop them" well ofc! bitcoin is designed to be censor resistant. doesn't stop us mildly commenting on the sheer waste and stupidity of an encoding. at least do something efficient. otherwise it's another proof of consumption of block-space thingy.
— Adam Back (@adam3us) January 29, 2023

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April 12, 2023 Bitcoin.com

Tattooing Bitcoin: Advocates wear cryptocurrency on their sleeve

April 7, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Art

Inked Bitcoin advocates explain privacy, risks and even the pains of getting a Bitcoin tattoo, a growing trend in the community.

Got Bitcoin ink? Many Bitcoin believers do. But what are the risks? What about privacy? And what happens if — one fateful day — Bitcoin crashes and burns to zero?

Cointelegraph spoke with Bitcoin (BTC) advocates to understand why they have permanently etched a Bitcoin logo, motif, equation or slogan onto their skin. They’ve shown permanent solidarity with the decentralized movement, expressing their support for the Bitcoin protocol and the values it represents.

*Taihuttu's Bitcoin B tatto. Source Taihuttu.*

Didi Taihuttu, father of the “Bitcoin family,” explained that he inked himself the moment he went “all in on Bitcoin as I thought it was a very important step in my life.” A familiar face among the crypto community, Taihuttu sold all of his family’s possessions and slept in a campsite while the price of Bitcoin was in the four-figure territory with the “B” etched on his arm.

He now travels the world evangelizing Bitcoin, with his forearm on full view:

“Bitcoin changed my way of thinking about the world and decentralizing it.”

Anita Posch, another globetrotting Bitcoin evangelist, has a lightning bolt tattooed on her forearm. In the Human B Bitcoin documentary film, she said she wouldn’t explain that the lightning bolt symbol (a nod to the Lightning Network) on her wrist is Bitcoin-related but added “Bitcoin is my life” in follow-up comments.

*TatumTurnUp and Erik Dale have the Bitcoin supply formula on their skin. Source: Tatum*

TatumTurnUP (not his real name), the host of the Bitcoin show “Between Two Asics,” explained that he got his tattoo of the BTC supply formula because “It’s what proves scarcity.”

“Monetary scarcity is something we’ve been deprived of until Bitcoin, and the fact I can write down what proves there will only ever be a certain amount of Bitcoin is a pretty big deal.”

The tattoo on his bicep is a common (but unfortunately not strictly accurate) formula for the supply of Bitcoin. He shared a warning with readers: “The bottom of the Sigma might be the most painful thing I ever experienced. Just a forewarning.”

But what about OpSec?

However, isn’t it risky to advertise one’s love of a digital currency on one’s skin? OpSec, or operational security, is a military term the internet has hijacked. Among the crypto community, it refers to the public sharing of identity or defining features. And a Bitcoin tattoo could put a literal target on one’s back.

Taking profit at ∞/21m.#bitcoin pic.twitter.com/dKrWbp8KRb
— Erik Dale ⚡ (@EuroDale) January 14, 2023

Erik Dale, whose tattoos are pictured in the above tweet, founded Norway’s “Northern Lightning” conference series. Dale told Cointelegraph he was aware of the implications. His tattoos are “Equations, no logos or tribal markers, for OpSec reasons.”

“Insiders should realize what they are, but not casual observers.”

Rikki, of content creators and investigators Bitcoin Explorers, joked, “We are not particularly concerned about bad opsec.” He added another Bitcoin tattoo to his collection during a giveaway in Guatemala.

Bad OpSec can lead to doxing or the public reveal of people’s personal data. That’s why some Bitcoin advocates mask their online identities, using anonymous profiles on social media. Not so for Rikki and his partner Laura; they have their Bitcoin support on full view.

*Rikki and Laura’s tattoos. “Stack Sats” means save Bitcoin. Source: Rikki.*

Piero Coen, the co-founder of Guatemala-based Osmo Wallet, told Cointelegraph that Bitcoin is a “counterculture movement, and getting a tattoo related to it is a way to show our commitment to this movement.”

“It’s like a badge of honor, showing that we are part of this group of ‘pirates’ who are challenging the traditional financial system and are convinced we’re going to change the world. “

Besides, for Rikki and Laura, much of their lives already permanently exists on camera. Rikki explained:

“We are Bitcoin content creators, and so we chose to give up our privacy years ago. Besides, there aren’t just the slightly paranoid, scheming, pessimistic, terra plat-prone Bitcoiners — there are also us, the good-looking, nice, fun, cool and sex-loving Bitcoiners!”

Me: Should I be more low profile?

Still me: FREE BITCOIN TATTOO!!!!!!!! LET’S MAKE TWO AND MAKE A VLOG ABOUT IT!!!!! pic.twitter.com/HdwnAwRx4Z
— Laura Bitcoin explorers (@Lorinaura) January 30, 2023

Laura put it even more succinctly in a recent tweet:

For Tatum, another content creator and a recognizable face in the Bitcoin space, “Value is teaching people about Bitcoin and networking through it, so there’s a constant battle with opsec.”

“At the bottom of it, I am comfortable with my own security and what I do and do not share, but ‘WHY I love Bitcoin’ is always going to be shared.”

Tatum walks around Bitcoin conferences wearing a bulletproof vest in a jocular nod to operational security in the Bitcoin space.

*Tatum interviewing guests in a security vest at Pacific Bitcoin 2022. Source: Tatum*

But what if Bitcoin goes to zero?

Unlike tweets, open letters or company creation, Bitcoin tattoos are tricky to delete. They require commitment.

So what happens if the currency goes to zero, like many other failed projects from Terra to Celsius? Tatum explained, well, “sucks for me!”

“After I got it, I jokingly said, ‘Now I really hope it doesn’t go to zero or I’ll look like an idiot.’ But in reality, my tattoo is kind of why it never will go to zero. If one person finds value in Bitcoin, there’s only ever going to be so many. So they will have value.”

Billionaire Mike Novogratz’s tattoo of the failed Terra (LUNA) token is an eternal reminder of the headiness and hedonism accompanying crypto bull runs. The tattoo remains on Novogratz’s arm, while LUNA is worth next to nothing, and its creator, Do Kwon, might be facing jail time. Fortunately, Novogratz says he learned from the experience saying investing “requires humility.“

Dale explained he’s prepared to live with the tattoos on his wrists even if Bitcoin does fail. He’s committed until the very end: “If I’m wrong about this, I want to carry that reminder every day. And if not, I can’t imagine a prouder badge to wear for the rest of my days.”

For Taihuttu, it’s important to zoom out and focus on the bigger picture. Bitcoin is a long-term play:

“I believe that people who have tattoos from dollar signs or other fiat have a bigger chance of going to 0.”

He’s right; famous rappers and celebrities, including singer Kesha and actor Lena Dunham, have been inked with dollar sign tattoos. It’s unlikely that they were asked if the dollar would go to zero prior to sitting in the tattoo artist’s chair.

*Kesha’s dollar sign tattoo. Source: popstartats.com*

On a sober note, Taihuttu explained that regardless of the Bitcoin movement underway, the large tattoo on his forearm represents “an amazing 10 years of my and my family’s life since 2013, the year that I started mining Bitcoin.” And that’s more than enough reason to get Bitcoin ink.

Community-driven crypto projects still thriving despite headwinds

March 26, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Community engagement has always been a key aspect of crypto, and it's proving its value during bear markets.

The highly anticipated launch and airdrop of Arbitrum's native governance token ARB took place on March 23, creating a buzz around the layer-2 protocol as hundreds of thousands of eligible users and DAOs tried to claim the token. Overwhelming user demand led the airdrop claim page to crash shortly after its launch, displaying 404 and 429 errors for over an hour, Cointelegraph reported.

Since Arbitrum was one of the largest blockchain projects without a token, the hype around its drop was expected. Nevertheless, it exemplifies how community-driven projects in the space can still thrive, despite competitors, technical challenges, market downturns and regulatory uncertainty.

Wen? Now. ‍ pic.twitter.com/CysJ9nPP3Z
— Arbitrum (,) (@arbitrum) March 16, 2023

Arbitrum wasn't the first - and certainly won't be the last - project to mobilize massive audiences. In February, the token distribution of the layer-1 protocol Core DAO followed a similar engagement recipe, with 1.2 million tokens airdropped to individual users. Even before its mainnet launch, the project established in 2021 had over 1.6 million Twitter followers and over 215,000 Discord members.

"From the start, community ownership and inclusion was a major goal," Core DAO contributor Brendon Sedo told Cointelegraph. "Transparency is another key for our community. Too many projects keep the curtain closed on their progress and development. We’ve made it a priority to distribute information across a variety of platforms."

Core's blockchain runs on a combined Proof-of-Work and Delegated Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism known as Satoshi Plus. Its airdrop was carried out in partnership with the Satoshi App, an application allowing users to “mine” in-app rewards without requiring a payment or exclusive invite. According to Core, the App was crucial to helping to get tokens in the hands of the true users of the network, with 25% of the token supply dedicated to the partnership.

Community engagement is also key for Web3 games and metaverse platforms. Virtual world Aftermath Islands Metaverse is about to reach 4 million resource pack NFT generated in just 140 days after releasing its first play-to-earn game, adding the last 1 million users in a period of just 15 days, says the company.

Up for a challenge? We have some fun quests & quizzes live on @Crew3xyz

Head over there to learn and interact with different Core DAO topics while receiving special Discord server roles and exclusive rewards #CoreDAO https://t.co/Pf1r2a1zgv
— Core DAO (@Coredao_Org) February 21, 2023

"Our focus is not on the number of users, as our users are anonymously verified using our Proof of Humanity solutions where they can only have 1 account with no duplicate accounts, fakes or bots. This effectively removes the “eyeball” measuring and false results, so we focus on what the users are doing," explained David Lucatch, managing director at Aftermath Islands.

The resource pack NFTs represents real ownership of items that can be traded or used in different ways within the platform as a personal item. Pack's daily generation of real users sits at 60,000, claims the company.

Decentralization and community engagement have always been key aspects of crypto. Core DAO's Sedo argues that project insiders and lack of community ownership pose threats to blockchain's potential. "[...] chains had to make tradeoffs between security, scalability, and decentralization," he explained, adding that "the classic blockchain trilemma gets plenty of time in the spotlight with too few solutions. Many chains and projects simply concede that to be scalable they must sacrifice decentralization."

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