Worldcoin integrates with Shopify, Mercado Libre, Minecraft, Reddit and Telegram

December 13, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Reddit removes moderators involved in alleged insider trading of Moon tokens

October 23, 2023 Coin Telegraph

On Oct. 18 Reddit closed its blockchain based points program that involved the use of certain crypto tokens native to subreddits.

Reddit’s r/Cryptocurrency community has fired two moderators who were found to be involved in insider trading of the Moon token, Cointelegraph has confirmed.

As Cointelegraph reported on Oct. 20, at least three wallets linked to Reddit group moderators dumped hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of Moon tokens on Oct. 18, just minutes before the official announcement of the closure of the blockchain-based points program that involved the use of certain cryptocurrencies native to each community. The market dump by the three wallets was highlighted by on-chain analysis accounts on X (formerly Twitter) such as Lookonchain.

1/ Three @CCMOD_ moderators dumped $MOON in advance via #inside information from @Reddit admins. pic.twitter.com/ucrPkh6siX
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) October 19, 2023

The Reddit moderators were made aware of the closure of the blockchain-based points program an hour earlier than the official announcement. The Reddit announcement caused the token to drop by nearly 85% to $0.0198 but two moderators managed to sell just in time to make more gains than the rest of the unaware community.

Cointelegraph reached out to r/Cryptocurrency to understand the insider trading allegations and how the investigation went through. u/mellon, a core contributor and founder of told Cointelegraph that two moderators were removed while three others are being investigated:

“2 mods got removed as they sold their Moons before the official announcement from Reddit: u/rider_of_the_strom u/McGillby. "

The program allowed participants on the platform to earn points and spend them using community-native crypto tokens such as Moon. In the r/CryptoCurrency subreddit, users who post or leave comments are given the ERC-20 token MOON, which they can freely exchange, tip, or use for other purposes in the community.

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Reddit mods dumped tokens hours before blockchain program termination

October 20, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Analysis of token movements from Redditor moderators' wallets suggests at least three moderators dumped thousands of dollars worth of Moon tokens just minutes before the actual announcement.

Popular social network platform Reddit announced the wind-down of its blockchain-based community points program on Oct. 17 citing scalability issues. The announcement created controversy in the crypto community with many calling it a rug-pull as the price of the native token on different subreddits tanked after the announcements.

Each subreddit had its own native token. For example, the Moons (MOON) token was the native crypto asset of the r/CryptoCurrency board, while Bricks (BRICK) was for the r/FortNiteBR subreddit. Users could spend these points on badges and exclusive items for their avatars.

At the time of the announcement the moderators of most of the subreddits involved with the community points program claimed to be unaware of the decision. However, this is now being called into question as new on-chain data suggest at least a couple of moderators holding Moon tokens may have been linked to three wallets that dumped millions of the tokens shortly before the actual announcement.

On-chain analysts such as Pledditor were the first to draw attention to the actions of a subreddit moderator with the pseudonym Mcgillby. On-chain data reveals that this moderator transferred more than 100,000 Moons over two different transactions on the Arbitrum Nova blockchain, turning them into more than $23,000 in ETH. The user subsequently deleted all earlier Reddit posts.

.@Reddit admins told /r/CryptoCurrency moderators beforehand, and 3 moderators sold $MOON tokens on insider information$MOON price dropped -22% minutes before the announcement was posted

Here is a list of Reddit moderators acting on inside information BEFORE the announcement: pic.twitter.com/xAh75hOVEa
— Pledditor (@Pledditor) October 18, 2023

In another incident, just 17 minutes before Reddit's open statement, "rider_of_the_storm," a different moderator, allegedly shifted 345,422 Moons, worth over $69,000 at the time, to an exchange address. The Reddit account in question has since been deactivated. According to Lookonchain, on-chain data showed that at least three of the administrators overseeing the cryptocurrency subreddit liquidated tokens some 20 to 30 minutes before the announcement went public.

1/ Three @CCMOD_ moderators dumped $MOON in advance via #inside information from @Reddit admins. pic.twitter.com/ucrPkh6siX
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) October 19, 2023

A cumulative statement from the Reddit moderators clarified that they received the notice about the termination of the community points program an hour earlier, suggesting at least three moderators may have used the prior information to dump their token holdings.

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Nifty News: NFT restaurant crumbles, Binance NFT ends Polygon support and more

September 9, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Binance

The restaurant was being built alongside a private members lounge that was only open to people who bought NFTs, but rising construction costs ultimately halted the project.

Bold plans for a nonfungible token (NFT)-based restaurant and private members lounge in San Francisco have ended abruptly after the company behind the project halted construction due to challenging macroeconomic factors.

The two venues were being built on Salesforce Park and were going to be dubbed the “Sho Restaurant” and “Sho Club Sky Lounge.”

The latter would only be accessible to holders of the Sho Club NFTs, which cost anywhere from $7,500 to $300,000, and offered access to other future Sho Group hospitality offerings.

Speaking with San Francisco-focused news website SFGATE on Sept. 7, Sho Group CEO Joshua Sigel stated that it was no longer possible to build the project and confirmed that the company ended its lease agreement in July.

*Early rendition of the restaurant and members lounge. Source: Sho Group.*

The CEO added: “Despite a strong demand for the concept with millions of dollars in both pre-sold and reserved memberships [...] we ultimately could not address the many concerns brought about by potential investors, most of which have been around the future of SF and the rising costs of constructing the restaurant.”

Sigel went on to highlight difficult macro factors that ended up making construction costs too expensive, such as “labor shortages, supply chain disruptions, geopolitical uncertainty, and inflation.”

Sigel says Sho Group has refunded everyone who bought the NFTs.

Binance NFT ends support for Polygon

Binance’s NFT marketplace suddenly announced that it would soon wind down support for Polygon-based NFTs but did not provide a clear explanation as to why.

In a Sept. 8 blog post, Binance NFT stated that it will discontinue its The Sandbox NFT Staking Program later this month, citing a decision to streamline product offerings on the platform.

The program allows users to stake their Polygon-based Land NFTs from The Sandbox to earn SAND token rewards; however, it will officially shut down on Sept. 26.

Users will have their NFTs automatically unstaked and returned to the spot wallets.

As part of the closure of the program, Binance NFT also stated that support for the Polygon network will come to an end on the same day, with users being given until Dec. 31 to withdraw all their Polygon NFTs from the marketplace.

Explaining the move, all Binance NFT stated was that “more details will be provided to impacted users at a later date.”

Reddit launches NFL NFTs

To celebrate the new NFL season that kicked off this week, NFT-friendly social media platform Reddit launched NFL-themed NFT avatar collectibles.

TODAY IS THE DAY Introducing NFL #RedditCollectibles for all 32 @NFL teams (limited to 500 units per team). Draft yours now! #NFLxReddit #2023NFLKickoff https://t.co/e43sIHl9oW pic.twitter.com/WOjRagyJmv
— Reddit (@Reddit) September 6, 2023

The collection was launched on Sept. 7 and covers all 32 teams. The NFTs are being sold for $25 a pop, and the artwork depicts the Reddit Snoo mascot wearing various uniforms.

There are 500 tokens available per team; however, at the time of writing, it appears that many of the sets have more than 400 NFTs still available, suggesting there hasn’t been any rush to snap them up yet.

*Reaction to the announcement on r/CollectibleAvatars. Source: Reddit*

Rumble Kong League x Stance

As part of a partnership with NBA star Paul George and popular sock, underwear and T-shirt brand Stance, NFT project Rumble Kong League has dropped phygital basketball socks.

The drop is part of a broader collaborative project dubbed Hyper Socks, which will eventually see the launch of a 3v3 basketball game with play-to-earn features.

The first stage of the project saw the sale of tokenized socks that can be used in the upcoming game.

In a Sept. 8 announcement, the Rumble Kong League team kicked off stage two by opening up the sale of 250 boxes of physical Stance Sox, that are themed with the cartoon gorilla avatars from the project.

Two legends in their field, joining forces to create greatness.

The RKL x @Stance HyperSocks are live!

Top performance rare fur quality that'll create a spark on any basketball court.

Only 250 available!

Grab your box before they're gone! pic.twitter.com/3rQXtTtciI
— Rumble Kong League (@RumbleKongs) September 8, 2023

The partnership marks a significant mainstream partnership for the project, considering Stance’s ties to the NBA and other pro sports leagues.

Other Nifty News:

The team behind NFT project OnChainMonkey is shifting its entire collection of 10,000 NFTs from Ethereum to Bitcoin in a massive undertaking expected to take several months.

The Base network’s “Onchain Summer” promotion in August resulted in over 700,000 NFTs minted by over 268,000 unique wallets, according to a Sept. 6 announcement from the team.

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Nifty News: Coca-Cola gest Based, Reddit avatars reach 20M milestone and more

August 14, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Bruce Lee

Coca-Cola has chosen the newly-launched Coinbase layer-2 network Base to deploy its Masterpiece NFT collection.

The world’s largest soft drinks brand is delving deeper into the realm of non-fungible tokens, launching its first collection on the Coinbase layer-2 network Base.

On Aug. 13 Coinbase announced the new Coca-Cola collection as part of its “Onchain Summer” event.

“CocaCola is bringing their Global Masterpiece campaign onchain with iconic works from leading artists,” it stated.

*"The Scream" by Edvard Munch. Source: onchainsummer.xyz*

The Masterpiece collection brings together classic pieces such as “The Scream” by Edvard Munch along with new works from emerging talents, “all intertwined with the iconic CocaCola bottle.”

Coca-Cola's NFT entry is one of the larger consumer brands announced to be involved with Base so far. Other digital collectible projects expected to launch this month include Zora, Pixelmon, Showtime, and Indelible.

ᴏɴᴄʜᴀɪɴ ꜱᴜᴍᴍᴇʀ@CocaCola is bringing their Global Masterpiece campaign onchain with iconic works from leading artists.

Mint now: https://t.co/xTWyI3O7IW pic.twitter.com/9wxFgt8qOh
— Coinbase ️ (@coinbase) August 13, 2023

Reddit Collectible Avatars hit 20M milestone

Reddit NFTs minted on layer-2 network Polygon have surpassed the 20 million milestone, with the numerous collectible avatars spread over 16.3 million total holders.

According to Dune Analytics, the cumulative sales transaction volume of Reddit Collectible Avatars NFTs has exceeded $40 million.

Reddit’s Collectible Avatars Gen 4 release called “Retro Reimagined” launched on July 27, and Gen 3 has accumulated sales transactions of more than $3.4 million.

*Reddit Collectible Avatar stats. Source: Dune Analytics*

On Aug. 13, Polygon founder Sandeep Nailwal said the “Polygon ecosystem’s mainstream products are silently reaching “magic inflection points” of growth, be it Reddit Avatars, DraftKings NFTs or Nike dotSWOOSH.”

New Bruce Lee anime has whiffs of NFTs

A new anime project based on the late martial artist Bruce Lee has been announced, with speculation that there could be an NFT angle to it.

The new anime, named “House of Lee” is expected to come out in 2024. It is endorsed by Bruce Lee's daughter Shannon and the Bruce Lee Estate.

However, onlookers have noticed that the animation studio is Shockunit from China, known for NFT-based projects, while the animation artist is Emily Yang, a successful NFT animator, according to reports on Aug. 13.

The producer, a company called Shibuya, also runs a platform for crowdfunding projects through NFT sales. In April, they minted an NFT collection called "House of Lee: Genesis" and sold 49,000 NFTs to raise over $700,000.

The animation aims to promote the collection which has seen prices fall from $15 to around $6 to $10, the report added.

The Enter the Dragon teaser trailer shows Bruce Lee animated in an old-school anime style, doing martial arts and turning into a dragon.

Cointelegraph reached out to Shannon at the Bruce Lee Family Company for further details but had yet to hear back at the time of publication.

Grimes makes it big with NFTs

Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer Claire Boucher also known professionally as Grimes said she has made more money selling NFTs than she has through her entire music career.

During the 2021 bull market and NFT bubble, Grimes sold her “War Nymph” NFTs on the Nifty marketplace earning roughly $6 million in revenue.

In an interview with Wired on Aug. 8, Grimes said that NFTs “changed her life” before adding, “I’m sad about what happened to NFTs and crypto because it got polluted fast with people trying to make as much money as possible.”

“But I do want to think about compensating artists, especially digital artists. And I hope when the aggro niche dies down, we can come back.”

Other Nifty news

According a to financial disclosure released last month, former U.S. President Donald Trump holds $250,000 to $500,000 of assets in a cryptocurrency wallet. The assets appear to be connected to a collection of self-styled NFTs he marketed after leaving the White House.

On Aug. 9, CBS Studios applied to use the name “Star Trek Continuum” for NFTs and digital collectibles. The collection is a series of NFTs featuring different customizable starships from the adventures in the popular science fiction universe.

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Reddit community tokens soar on Kraken listing

August 8, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

The tokens are part of the Reddit Community Points initiative to create cryptocurrencies that would incentivize content creation.

Moon and Brick, two tokens created by users of social media platform Reddit, are up 48% and 443%, respectively, in the past week after being listed on cryptocurrency exchange Kraken.

In an Aug. 7 announcement, Kraken announced the listing of Moon and Brick for spot trading and perpetual futures. At the time of publication, users could only deposit the two tokens via the Arbitrum Nova network.

Moon is a community token created for the r/CryptoCurrency subReddit. Tokens are given as rewards for users' comments and posts. Users can also exchange Moon for badges and emojis for use within in the subReddit. The token also grants voting rights for r/CryptoCurrency community polls.

Meanwhile, Brick is a community token created for the namesake Battle Royale Game's subReddit r/FortNiteBR. Bricks are stored in Reddit's native crypto wallet, Reddit Vault, and distributed to users based on their Karma, or reputation points, every four weeks. Bricks can then be exchanged for special memberships and unlock features within r/FortNiteBR.

At the time of publication, Moon has a fully diluted market cap of $44.3 million, while Brick has a fully diluted market cap of $17.0 million. The r/CryptoCurrency subReddit has 6.6 million members compared to 2.7 million for r/FortNiteBR.

Since 2021, Reddit has been launching its cryptocurrencies as part of the Reddit Community Points (RCP) initiative to incentivize content production. When users exchange their community tokens for rewards, Reddit will cover the gas fee needed for the transaction. In addition, token holders can participate in governance proposals that introduce new functionality to the tokens.

*The Kraken listing announcement in the r/CryptoCurrency subReddit*

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Nearly half of crypto copy traders are Gen Z, says Bitget report

August 4, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Bitget

Younger investors are more likely to take part in copy trading or social trading and take advice from social media influencers, according to the crypto exchange.

Generation Z crypto investors are more likely to engage in copy trading or social trading — an investment method that involves mirroring the trades of a selected other — according to a report from crypto exchange Bitget.

In an Aug. 3 report on copy trading by Bitget, the firm revealed that out of all of its copy traders, 44% of them were under 25 years of age. This was followed by 25 to 35-year-olds accounting for just under one-third.

The older generation, 35 to 55-year-olds made up of 17% of copy traders, while those over 55 made only 7% of the total.

*Bitget’s copy trade user figures show Gen Z and millenials make up the bulk of users. Source: Bitget*

Copy trading or social trading has been offered by exchanges in both traditional stocks and crypto. In the crypto space, it is currently offered by exchanges including eToro, Bybit and MEXC, among others.

Users can choose to use an automated tool that essentially copies positions opened and managed by a chosen individual.

Bitget suggested Gen Z's inclination to look to social media influencers for investment decisions could explain their affinity towards copy trading.

A January Forbes Advisor survey said around 80% of Gen Z and millennials took financial advice from social media. Half claimed to have made money from the advice received and YouTube, Reddit and TikTok were the most trusted platforms.

Crypto was found as the most popular investment for Gen Z in a May report from the CFA Institute and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Foundation.

44% of United States Gen Z investors started with a crypto investment compared to 35% of millennials. 43% of British and 35% of Canadian Gen Z investors also said crypto was their first investment.

Bitget’s report claimed most of its copy-trading users — nearly a third — were Western European but nearly half hailed from either East or Southeast Asia, its next two largest geographic segments.

*Bitget’s copy traders by region show Latin Americans were the fourth largest group. Source: Bitget*

Despite making up 1% of Bitget’s global copy traders 62% of African users were interested in copy trading — the highest proportion of any region.

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reddit