crypto community

‘Scammers dream’ — Yuga’s auction model for Bitcoin NFTs sees criticism

Yuga Labs’ first Bitcoin NFT collection saw some backlash from the crypto community over the weekend, pointing to flaws in how it conducts the auction.

Nonfungible token (NFT) company Yuga Labs faces criticism from the cryptocurrency community, including the creator of Bitcoin Ordinals, over how it plans to auction its new Bitcoin NFT collection. 

On March 5, Yuga opened bids for its “TwelveFold” collection, which will see 300 NFT-like images inscribed on satoshis using the Bitcoin-native Ordinals protocol, with 288 from the collection sent to the highest 288 bidders.

According to a March 5 press release, those participating in the bidding process must send their entire bid amount in Bitcoin (BTC) to a unique BTC address controlled by Yuga. Winners would simply pay up the BTC they bid, while Yuga said it would return BTC to those unsuccessful in placing a top bid.

However, such a plan has earned the ire of some within the crypto community, with some pointing out that having to conduct refunds for unsuccessful bids manually is like the “stone age.”

The user behind an Ordinals-focused Twitter account “ordinally” called the auction model a “scammers dream,” adding while they doubt Yuga would keep the BTC from failed bids, the way it carries out the auction sets a “REALLY bad precedence.”

The post even saw a response from Bitcoin Ordinals creator, Casey Rodarmor, who hotly weighed in on the discussion, telling Yuga to “get fucked” and calling the conduct of the auction “degenerate bullshit.”

He added if Yuga were to conduct a similar auction he would encourage others to boycott the project.

Other users pointed out the shortcomings of the auction system, saying it’s possible some could overpay for a TwelveFold due to a potential significant price discrepancy between the highest and lowest bids in the top 288.

Despite the criticism from some, many were happy to see a large project such as Yuga — which rose to prominence due to multiple Ethereum-based NFT collections — bridge across to Bitcoin.

Related: Luxor Mining acquires OrdinalHub amid Bitcoin-based NFTs hype

Ordinally, who criticized the collection, later tweeted appreciation of “the fact that Yuga took the effort to attempt [to] go a Bitcoin route when setting up this auction.”

An Ordinals-based collection, Ordinal Pizza OG, expressed excitement at Yuga’s BTC collection and called it a “massive net positive for Ordinals.”

The criticisms weren’t enough to stop cashed-up bidders from wanting to try to cement a top spot to nab Yuga’s first BTC collection.

At the time of writing, the top bid was 1.11 BTC (around $25,000), according to the TwelveFold website with the lowest bid registered showing as 0.011 BTC, or around $250.

SEC lawsuit against Paxos over BUSD baffles crypto community

Members of the community were confused and argued that people buying the stablecoin were not expecting it to go up in value.

Paxos Trust Company-issued stablecoin Binance USD (BUSD) being in the sights of United States regulators sparked various reactions from the crypto community.

On Feb. 13, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a wells notice to Paxos, alleging that BUSD is unregistered security. On the same day, the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) ordered Paxos to halt the issuance of BUSD.

As Paxos faces regulatory scrutiny on several fronts, various members of the crypto community took to Twitter to give their takes on the situation. From disregarding the issue as “FUD” to calling it an attack against the Binance exchange, crypto community members laid down various theories on the allegations that BUSD is an unregistered security.

Crypto analyst Miles Deutscher expressed his thoughts in a tweet, arguing that nobody expects profit when purchasing a stablecoin. He tweeted:

Similarly, the pseudonymous trader Tree of Alpha was baffled by the new development. The community member questioned how it was considered a security and asked their followers if they were buying BUSD with the expectation that it would go to $2. The trader also called out the SEC chairperson Gary Gensler and said that the government official is on an “unhinged, unchecked crusade against crypto.” 

Meanwhile, iTrader AshWSB also commented on the matter and dismissed the issue as “FUD.” The trader argued that BUSD is fully backed, and Paxos not issuing any more tokens will not affect the existing tokens. “It’s good to stay informed but don’t make emotional moves,” they warned.

Bitcoin (BTC) analyst Tedtalksmacro also echoed the sentiments that BUSD might not be meeting the criteria for a security. The analyst suggested that the event may simply be “a shot at Binance.”

Related: Kraken reaches $30M settlement with SEC over staking as IRS seeks user information

Amid the news, Cointelegraph spoke with several blockchain lawyers to determine if stablecoins can be securities. One lawyer pointed out that while stablecoins are created to have a fixed value, holders can profit through various means like arbitrage, hedging and staking.

Crypto Twitter uses new AI chatbot to make trading bots, blogs and even songs

A few simple prompts to a recently released AI chatbot is all Crypto Twitter needs to create trading bots, an investment thesis and a crypto-themed song.

The crypto community appears to be having a ball with ChatGPT, a recently launched Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbot created by research company OpenAI — using it for a multitude of applications including a trading bot, a crypto blog and even an original song.

The bot is a language interface tool that OpenAI says can interact “in a conversational way” and can be used to answer questions or assist in making almost anything it’s prompted to create, with some limitations.

A user on Twitter posted their interaction with ChatGPT showing that from a simple prompt the tool created a basic trading bot using Pine Script, a programming language used for the financial software TradingView.

Another user gave the bot instructions to create a trading terminal, with ChatGPT writing code that could display the current orders for the Bitcoin (BTC) and Tether (USDT) trading pair on Binance utilizing the crypto exchange’s application programming interface (API).

Cointelegraph previously tested ChatGPT and found the tool could create an example smart contract. Meanwhile, other users discovered the AI could detect and either assist in patching or exploiting vulnerabilities in smart contracts. However, it was noted the code generated by the bot wasn’t always correct.

Crypto Twitter has not only utilized the AI tool for technical purposes but also for more creative and even business endeavors.

ChatGPT responded with a five-part answer when asked by one user what the blockchain industry needs to do “in order to positively affect society,” Twitter user “Goose Wayne” opined the bot “can write your crypto investment thesis now.”

The co-founder of investment firm Multicoin Capital, Kyle Samani, tweeted his results on asking ChatGPT to write a blog post on how crypto payments will grow in the future, the tool responded with a multi-paragraph article.

Another lengthy opinion article was written by the AI on how Monero (XMR) “improves on Bitcoin’s technology,” with the user who posted the result opining “ChatGPT is going to put a lot of crypto bloggers out of business lol.”

Related: Al tech aims to make metaverse design accessible for creators

Meanwhile, some Twitter users have used the tool to create music, Web3 entrepreneur Jay Azhang posted a “song about losing money in crypto” written by the bot:

Multiple other examples of ChatGPT’s use have been posted to Twitter, from its answers on how to choose a good crypto project, grow a Twitter audience within the nonfungible token (NFT) community and even an email where it acts as a crypto hedge fund warning users it’s illiquid because of the collapse of FTX:

The tool is free for now as its “a research release,” according to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, but that may not last for long, as he said in a Dec. 5 tweet that the costs to run the tool are “eye-watering” and will have to be monetized “somehow at some point.”