3 ms·

We Got Spanked: What We Know So Far

19 points by wglb 8y ago

jboggan 8y ago
I remember meeting one of the technical cofounders of SpankChain the weekend of their ICO. He was very tired but excited to be done with the project and onto his next ICO idea. He was adamant about not having his name attached to it. It didn't strike me as a very serious project for that reason, among others.
- spanktosh1 8y ago
  I fired him.
PhasmaFelis 8y ago
Could someone explain what's happening in the update at the top? It sounds like they got in touch with the guy who stole their money, convinced him to give it back, and then...tipped him a total of $9000 as a reward for...something? That can't be right, can it?
- woah 8y ago
  It is right, they say it is cheaper than most audits.
  - spanktosh1 8y ago
    The hacker was also kind enough to audit two of our other contracts pro-bono :)
    - PhasmaFelis 8y ago
      Does that mean he actually gave you a thorough audit, or that he tried to crack them and failed and you assume that means they're solid? If the former, do you have reason to believe that he's trustworthy?
jpatokal 8y ago
> 1271.88 BOOTY belongs to users (~$9,300 total), and the rest belonged to SpankChain. Somehow my sympathy for anybody who invests in a cryptocurrency called BOOTY that's stored on a SpankChain is somewhat limited. Particularly since, once again, the money wasn't really "hacked" or "stolen", just taken by somebody who exploited a contract. Code is law, right? > It was our decision to forego a security audit for the payment channel contract. ...and I don't have a lot of sympathy for SpankChain people either.
- spanktosh1 8y ago
  What makes you think we want your sympathy?
Moodles 8y ago
Probably a pointless question but why is there a blockchain here?
- jpatokal 8y ago
  How else would you get a $20 million valuation for a porn startup? https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/spankchain/ https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/spankchain/ Obvious caveat: an ICO valuation is orders of magnitude more sketchy than a VC round valuation.
- spanktosh1 8y ago
  From the intro of the whitepaper: https://spankchain.com/static/SpankChain%20Whitepaper%20(EN).pdf https://spankchain.com/static/SpankChain%20Whitepaper%20(EN)... The $100B adult entertainment industry has faced routine discrimination at the hands of banks, payment processors, and financial institutions. These service providers simply refuse to service those in the adult industry. In 2014, JPMorgan Chase closed the bank accounts of several high profile porn stars and their families without justification . In 2015, Visa and Mastercard stopped processing payments for advertising on Backpage.com. Paypal is notorious for closing the accounts of performers and seizing their funds. This discrimination and censorship has persisted despite the FDIC declaring it unconstitutional and in violation of the First Amendment. Making matters worse, middlemen in the adult entertainment industry have historically extracted exorbitant fees due to a lack of competition in the space. The popular adult-friendly payment processor CCBill takes a 10.8-14.5% cut of payments and charges a $1,000 'high-risk’ registration fee annually, pricing out many potential entrepreneurs. Most adult camsites take between a 30-50% cut of performer earnings, and adult content marketplaces such as ManyVids take a 40% cut or more. Blockchains represent a viable alternative to the discrimination and inefficiencies of legacy financial institutions. Public blockchains are globally distributed systems of record that provide permissionless access to anyone with an internet connection. Anyone, regardless of their profession, can use a public blockchain to store their funds and transact without fear of having their accounts shut down. Blockchain transactions also have strong finality guarantees, so the fraudulent chargebacks used as justification for classifying adult entertainment businesses as ‘high-risk’ are effectively impossible. Further, blockchains such as Ethereum, which support smart contracts, can be used to decentralize the business processes of expensive middlemen and render them obsolete.

19 points by wglb 8y ago

I remember meeting one of the technical cofounders of SpankChain the weekend of their ICO. He was very tired but excited to be done with the project and onto his next ICO idea. He was adamant about not having his name attached to it. It didn't strike me as a very serious project for that reason, among others.

spanktosh1 8y ago
I fired him.

PhasmaFelis 8y ago

Could someone explain what's happening in the update at the top? It sounds like they got in touch with the guy who stole their money, convinced him to give it back, and then...tipped him a total of $9000 as a reward for...something? That can't be right, can it?

woah 8y ago
It is right, they say it is cheaper than most audits.
- spanktosh1 8y ago
  The hacker was also kind enough to audit two of our other contracts pro-bono :)
  - PhasmaFelis 8y ago
    Does that mean he actually gave you a thorough audit, or that he tried to crack them and failed and you assume that means they're solid? If the former, do you have reason to believe that he's trustworthy?

jpatokal 8y ago

> 1271.88 BOOTY belongs to users (~$9,300 total), and the rest belonged to SpankChain. Somehow my sympathy for anybody who invests in a cryptocurrency called BOOTY that's stored on a SpankChain is somewhat limited. Particularly since, once again, the money wasn't really "hacked" or "stolen", just taken by somebody who exploited a contract. Code is law, right? > It was our decision to forego a security audit for the payment channel contract. ...and I don't have a lot of sympathy for SpankChain people either.

spanktosh1 8y ago
What makes you think we want your sympathy?

Moodles 8y ago

Probably a pointless question but why is there a blockchain here?

jpatokal 8y ago
How else would you get a $20 million valuation for a porn startup? https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/spankchain/ https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/spankchain/ Obvious caveat: an ICO valuation is orders of magnitude more sketchy than a VC round valuation.
spanktosh1 8y ago
From the intro of the whitepaper: https://spankchain.com/static/SpankChain%20Whitepaper%20(EN).pdf https://spankchain.com/static/SpankChain%20Whitepaper%20(EN)... The $100B adult entertainment industry has faced routine discrimination at the hands of banks, payment processors, and financial institutions. These service providers simply refuse to service those in the adult industry. In 2014, JPMorgan Chase closed the bank accounts of several high profile porn stars and their families without justification . In 2015, Visa and Mastercard stopped processing payments for advertising on Backpage.com. Paypal is notorious for closing the accounts of performers and seizing their funds. This discrimination and censorship has persisted despite the FDIC declaring it unconstitutional and in violation of the First Amendment. Making matters worse, middlemen in the adult entertainment industry have historically extracted exorbitant fees due to a lack of competition in the space. The popular adult-friendly payment processor CCBill takes a 10.8-14.5% cut of payments and charges a $1,000 'high-risk’ registration fee annually, pricing out many potential entrepreneurs. Most adult camsites take between a 30-50% cut of performer earnings, and adult content marketplaces such as ManyVids take a 40% cut or more. Blockchains represent a viable alternative to the discrimination and inefficiencies of legacy financial institutions. Public blockchains are globally distributed systems of record that provide permissionless access to anyone with an internet connection. Anyone, regardless of their profession, can use a public blockchain to store their funds and transact without fear of having their accounts shut down. Blockchain transactions also have strong finality guarantees, so the fraudulent chargebacks used as justification for classifying adult entertainment businesses as ‘high-risk’ are effectively impossible. Further, blockchains such as Ethereum, which support smart contracts, can be used to decentralize the business processes of expensive middlemen and render them obsolete.