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Edward Snowden NFT Sells for $5.4M in Ethereum
- smoldesu 6y agoAt this rate I'm going to make a bot to automatically mint an NFT of my reaction to every NFT thread on the HN frontpage.
- Igelau 6y agoI'll make one that mints your reactions too.
- mckirk 6y agoI'll make a bot minting token-minting-bot tokens.
- insert_coin 6y agoPerfect for the rolling-eyes-bot I'm about to release on the chain
- brutal_chaos_ 6y agoEventually there'll be so many reactions, we'll have special NFTs for the millionth reaction and more! /s On a more serious note: is it just me or is this really just a new tulip wave? I get that crypto is seemingly here to stay...but NFTs? can't someone re-mint something on the blockchain and claim it is the real one? For example, if I were to re-mint Dorsey's first tweet...do people know enough to look out for scams like that? Granted, I bet Dorsey would have to endorse it to get widespread appreciation, but then again fools are fooled by fools gold.
- throwaway_kufu 6y ago> do people know enough to look out for scams like that? Yes, because the only people buying them are in on the scam. No one is looking to buy Jack Dorseys 1st tweet for millions of dollars, they are looking to buy an advertisement so you too think you could become an overnight millionaire you just need to join their platform and buy in first. It’s the same thing as the Nigerian Prince that won the lottery but can’t cash it, so he will give you the winning lottery ticket if you just give him $1,000.
- brutal_chaos_ 6y agoI see. that's a very interesting perspective. Thanks!
- smoldesu 6y agoI think most economists figured out that crypto will eventually crash, and the status quo will eventually turn back to normal. With that in mind, they gave up and started recommending people buy Bitcoin for their retirement while they buy back their valuable stocks in return.
- tmp538394722 6y ago> Shortly after being charged with espionage, Snowden flew to Russia, where he was granted asylum, then residency. The article seems neutral about Snowden, but this characterization of events is bad reporting. He did not fly with the intent of staying in Russia. He was grounded and his passport revoked by the US gov. mid travel, stranding him in Russia, in the airport, for over a month. Eventually Russia granted him long term status there.
- rriepe 6y agoIt's particularly bad because it's a pattern that people need to know about. Being trapped politically somewhere like that happened to both Snowden and Assange.
- valdiorn 6y agoBobby Fischer as well. He was stuck in Japan for months until receiving an emergency passport from the Icelandic government. That fact that this is legal is... sketchy. Same with Shamima Begum, for that matter.
- tyre 6y agoThe fact that what is legal? That a company can revoke a passport issued by itself? Seems pretty reasonable. Maybe people could disagree on specific examples, but the principle seems fine. US passports say in them that they can be revoked for a variety of reasons.
- adgjlsfhk1 6y agoIt has the problem that it violates the UN charter for human rights which says that nations may not make people nationless.
- BoysenberryPi 6y agoThey are not nationless. Revoking someone's passport is not revoking someone's citizenship. Snowden was and is still a US citizen.
- Melting_Harps 6y agoHonestly, after the intelligence agencies tried to come after him for Royalties [0] when he released "Permanent Record' I think this is a good resolution. I sent him BTC and downloaded an epub of it online, but he deserved way more for what his efforts. Honestly, the first chapters was a 90s Internet kid's manifesto and why we fell in love with it in the first place and all the promise it held. Hopefully he can help the families back in Hong Kong that helped him escape to help them move to Canada and the UK now that the CCP has illegally annexed the territory. He also had a child, too. Congrats, Ed, you earned it! 0: https://edition.cnn.com/2019/09/17/politics/justice-department-sues-edward-snowden/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2019/09/17/politics/justice-departme...
- xur17 6y agoInterestingly it was a dao that purchased the NFT [0]. [0] https://decrypt.co/66933/why-this-dao-bought-snowden-nft https://decrypt.co/66933/why-this-dao-bought-snowden-nft
- ketamine__ 6y agoIt's more self-promotion by the crypto industry. No, your friends and family aren't rushing out to buy an NFT.
- xur17 6y agoI agree that "my friends and family aren't rushing out to buy NFTs", but what makes you think it's self promotion? I honestly think it's pretty neat that a collection of random people were able to pool capital and "invest" in stuff without forming a business, opening a bank account, etc.
- ketamine__ 6y agoI actually don't think that is what happening. I think these DAO's are promotional vehicles to drive an increase in hype and price of the underlying tokens on NFT platforms. There are going to be suckers that come along and help the promoters expand the market. There are technology gaps like Optimism that are funded by VC's. This is a promotional gap funded by... who knows? But it's likely a fund.
- purple_ferret 6y agoAhh, for a second I was like, 'wait...Snowden has finally stopped selling pictures of his face?!", but then I saw it!
- brutal_chaos_ 6y agoGenuine question: What's to stop someone for minting another block, with something that has previously been minted-e.g. Dorsey's first tweet, and pawning that off as the real deal? (nb4 the tweet/NFT is too well known. Consider lesser NFTs.) I'm sure a lot of people will catch on, but that certainly won't be everybody.
- jtsiskin 6y agoNothing, in the same way that there’s nothing stopping me from selling you the Brooklyn bridge.
- citizenpaul 6y agoMan remember when art money laundering meant you had to go PHYSICALLY!! to a location and either purchase or bid on a PHYSICAL!! piece of art.