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The 2022 World Cup fan tokens that everyone is keeping an eye on

All World Cup 2022 fan tokens from Chiliz and Socios

Which World Cup 2022 fan tokens are in the spotlight? Socios has prepared a prize game for national team fans!

On Sunday, the 20th of November, the World Cup 2022 officially kicked off with the whistle of the match between Qatar and Ecuador. The match, preceded by a pyrotechnic opening ceremony, kicked off the first World Cup in an Arab Emirate. Socios, the fan token platform built on Chiliz, and its national team fan tokens benefited at the price level from the start of the FIFA World Cup, with bullish movements on the charts.

Socios has also created an ad-hoc section for the 2022 World Cup called Expert Predictions in order to get its users as involved as possible. Find out which World Cup 2022 fan tokens everyone is keeping an eye on and how to play Socios Expert Predictions.

World Cup 2022 fan tokens in the spotlight

The cryptos that have taken centre stage during these last two complicated weeks for the market are the 2022 FIFA World Cup fan tokens developed on Socios. These fan tokens are those of the national teams of Portugal (POR), Spain (SNFT), Brazil (BFT) and Argentina (ARG), which were all released in the summer of 2021. The Italian national team, which unfortunately did not qualify for the competition, also launched its ITA fan token on the 29th of October 2022, in collaboration with Socios and at the initiative of the FIGC.

The recent popularity of these fan tokens can be attributed to the start of the World Cup, which brought interest and buying volumes to these fan cryptos. For example, the fan token of the Portugal team made a bullish movement of almost 100 per cent in 10 days, from a price of around $10 on 10 November 2022 to $19 on 19 November. The fan tokens of Spain (SNFT) and Brazil (BFT) did even better, marking price increases of more than 100% on the chart.

The price of World Cup 2022 fan tokens rose in the days leading up to the start of the competition, so why all this movement even before kick-off? The tokens of Spain, Portugal, Argentina and Brazil may have risen due to fan buying predicting a World Cup victory. Some traders may also have moved in advance trying to capture interest in everything to do with the competition in Qatar.

This hype around the World Cup 2022 fan tokens has also helped CHZ, the Chiliz blockchain crypto that performed well in the days leading up to the start of the competition. Chiliz is the network on which Socios’s platform is built and also the network on which fan tokens are exchanged. Chiliz’s crypto, CHZ went from a price of $0.15 to $0.26 in just over a week. All eyes are on these fan tokens, will the 2022 World Cup matches influence their price?

How to play with Socios Expert Predictions

The World Cup 2022, has a very entertaining element that we didn’t have in previous competitions, thanks to Socios’ Expert Predictions. Socios has come up with a ploy to allow football fans to follow the FIFA World Cup in an even more exciting way thanks to the new Expert Prediction section.

Expert Predictions is a new section of the Socios platform where you can win great prizes, including fan tokens, by guessing the results of FIFA World Cup matches. Playing Expert Prediction is free and very simple, simply go to the ‘matches’ section of the Socios smartphone app and register your prediction. The more accurate the prediction, the more points you earn.

For example, if you guess the correct result, you can earn more points than if you only guess the winning team. The points you earn over the course of the competition are used to determine your position in the standings – the higher up you are, the better your chances of winning one of the prizes. In addition, if you follow the matches live, during half-time you can try the free kick challenge, a mini-game on the Socios smartphone app, which allows you to gain additional experience points that are necessary to climb the rankings. What prizes are up for grabs when playing on Socios? By playing the Socios Expert Prediction you can win, in addition to World Cup 2022 fan tokens, a Playstation 5, football shirts and football boots autographed by the players, and ‘grandstand’ tickets for some club matches scheduled for next year.

As always, when it comes to crypto soccer, we also find the ‘paw’ of Sorare. The Ethereum-based platform has also launched a play-to-earn game dedicated to the World Cup. “Sorare’s ‘Global Cup’ allows all those who are subscribed to its crypto fantasy football platform, to build a team for the World Cup for free, and challenge other users in order to win a wide range of prizes. The first prize for the ‘Global Cup’ includes 3 Ether, around $3,000 at the time, and 3 special NFT cards created by Sorare specially for the occasion.

It promises to be a very interesting FIFA World Cup, also for Web3 fans thanks to the 2022 World Cup fan tokens, the Expert Prediction and the Sorare ‘Global Cup’.

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The Open Network, Toncoin’s blockchain of choice for Telegram 

What is The Open Network: the blockchain of TON coin and Telegram

What is The Open Network? Discover the Toncoin (TON) crypto blockchain, chosen by Telegram for its Web3 projects!

Among the social networks looking to integrate with the blockchain is Telegram! The messaging service started to develop its decentralised network in 2019. However, due to legal issues it decided to discontinue the project. The Open Network has thus passed into the hands of developers who have built a Proof-of-Stake blockchain that aspires to become a benchmark for dapps. The Telegram team remained committed to The Open Network, to the extent of integrating the Toncoin crypto into the app. Find out what The Open Network is and what Toncoin, Telegram’s cryptocurrency of choice, is for!

What is The Open Network?

The Open Network is a Layer 1 Proof-of-Stake blockchain founded in 2019, also known under its acronym TON. Although the initial idea for the project was developed by Telegram’s team, the messaging app shelved The Open Network in 2020. The development of TON was in fact blocked by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Now, The Open Network is a community-driven blockchain, reborn through the efforts of its developers, via the TON Foundation.

Telegram vs. SEC lawsuit over Gram’s crypto ICO 

In 2019, the Telegram team, led by brothers Pavel and Nikolai Durov, began exploring blockchain solutions for the messaging app. Thus, in 2019, the first testnet of The Open Network was launched with an ICO of the network’s crypto, which was then called Gram. On this occasion, the SEC opened an investigation to verify that Telegram had not sold the Gram crypto without authorisation as if it were a security. After several legal battles, applying the Howey test, the SEC ruled that Gram’s purchasers reasonably expected profits to be derived from the company’s entrepreneurial efforts and that Gram’s was therefore an unauthorised sale of securities. The lawsuit stopped the distribution of Gram. Telegram was ordered to pay a fine to the SEC of $18.5 million and to return $1.2 billion to those who had participated in the ICO. 

At this point, we are in 2020, Telegram decides to abandon the project. In a post, Pavel Durov expresses his displeasure at the outcome, sarcastically pointing out that the United States has the power to decide not only whether a coin can be distributed in its home state, but also worldwide: ‘perhaps even more paradoxically, the US court has declared that Grams cannot be distributed not only in the US, but globally. Why? Because, according to the court, a US citizen could find a way to access the TON platform after its launch. Therefore, in order to prevent this from happening, Gram crypto should not be distributed worldwide, even though every other country on the planet seems to be perfectly OK with TON’.

The Open Network: blockchain reborn thanks to community

After Telegram left the scene, the project was taken over by the developers themselves. From the original core of TON, two parallel projects were born, one of which kept Telegram’s way via the TON Foundation: ‘a decentralised community started by Anatoliy Makosov and Kirill Emelyanenko after Telegram walked away from the project’. 

The second project born from the ashes of Telegram’s crypto experience is FreeTON, which is now called Everscale, another Layer 1 Proof-of-Stake blockchain. Everscale works mainly on scalability, with over 200 secondary and parallel chains processing transactions together.

The restoration of The Open Network blockchain began in January 2021. After ten months, the blockchain was brought back to life with the basic infrastructure and tools. In November 2021, The Open Network was inaugurated and during 2022, the efforts of the developers were concentrated on providing The Open Network with the appropriate technology and security. Most of the assets and services on the network were created this year: tokens, non-fungible tokens, staking, domain names, marketplaces, multifunctional wallets, DEX and other decentralised finance services. TON also has two bridges, one on Ethereum and one on the Binance Smart Chain. The network’s native crypto is no longer called Gram but Toncoin (TON) and is used to pay fees to execute smart contracts, to use dapps, to participate in governance, and to be staked and contribute to the consensus mechanism. To date, The Open Network is operational with 200 validators and has 1.4 million accounts.

Toncoin (TON) has become Telegram’s cryptocurrency

Although Telegram is no longer actively involved in The Open Network, TON still remains linked to the app. The crypto TON has become Telegram’s crypto. Thanks to Wallet Bot developed by Telegram’s developers and launched in April 2022, it is possible to buy TON and send crypto to users via chat and without fees. With Wallet Bot, it is also possible to buy cryptocurrencies with a credit card and perform peer-to-peer transactions. 

The Open Network is also used by Telegram for its ‘TON domain name service’. Via the Fragment platform, users can buy crypto TON names for Telegram in the form of non-fungible tokens, names that are in effect NFT domains. The biggest sale was of the Telegram name @news, bought on the 18th of November for 994,000 TON (almost $2 million). This was followed by @auto at 900,000 TON and @bank at 850,000 TON. 

Like any NFT domain, a telegram name grants exclusive ownership of a username and a digital identity. 

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Limitazione temporanea della funzionalità Earning Wallet

Sospensione temporanea della funzionalità Earning Wallet

Restrizioni provvisorie all’uso delle funzionalità di Earning Wallet

Con la seguente comunicazione intendiamo chiarire le decisioni preventive introdotte da Young Platform con lo scopo di tutelare gli interessi dei nostri  utenti. È nostro dovere garantire a questi ultimi tutte le informazioni connesse ai rischi derivanti da momenti di forte volatilità di mercato.

La funzionalità “Earning Wallet” di Young Platform viene offerta tramite un partner centralizzato, ovvero Tesseract, l’unico regolato in tutta Europa. 

Fornendo il provider un servizio che limita la disponibilità delle criptovalute in periodi di forte volatilità, non è esente da rischi, in particolar modo:

  • rischio di non poter disporre per un tempo definito o non delle proprie criptovalute in momenti di forte volatilità;
  • rischio di non vedersi riconosciuti i reward previsti dal service provider;
  • rischio di perdita del capitale bloccato in Earning. 

Young Platform ha chiesto delucidazioni al fornitore, alla luce della situazione di mercato attuale. Il partner si è dimostrato collaborativo e trasparente, fornendo evidenze del fatto che i suoi asset sono collateralizzati in rapporto 1:1.

Nonostante ciò, Young Platform ha deciso ugualmente di limitare il servizio di Earning Wallet, dal momento che la situazione di mercato ha afflitto in maniera importante i servizi di lending e borrowing in tutto il mondo. Ciò significa che ha sospeso la creazione di nuovi stake e il rinnovo automatico sugli stake attivi.

In generale, dato il momento delicato, invitiamo tutti a valutare attentamente l’attivazione di servizi che riconoscono incrementi di criptovalute a seguito di un blocco delle stesse.  

Quindi se ora stai utilizzando il servizio Earning Wallet, l’importo in stake e il relativo reward verranno automaticamente accreditati sul tuo Portafoglio principale una volta raggiunto il termine ultimo di blocco, come da prassi. È tua facoltà sbloccare le tue criptovalute bloccate nell’Earning Wallet prima del termine, come da Termini e Condizioni dell’Earning Wallet.

Per qualsiasi dubbio contatta il supporto cliccando qui.

Ti terremo aggiornato su ogni cambiamento. 

Grazie per la fiducia che riponi in noi, 

Team Young Platform

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Your crypto security in the context of the FTX collapse

Your crypto security in the context of the FTX collapse

In light of recent events, we are here to reiterate that the safety and security of our users’ funds has always been and always will be Young Platform’s priority, both now and in the future

That is why we want to present to you, as well as our entire community of over 1 million people, the measures we are taking to achieve this goal. Young Platform offers innovative and ambitious products, but operates in a cautious and considered manner. This means that our project wants to contribute to the growth of the cryptocurrency industry with responsibility and sustainability. The best way to do this is through transparency.

First of all, we want to reassure you on a few important aspects: 

  • The total balances in your wallet are immediately accessible for withdrawal and are deposited with selected providers that offer some of the best guarantees on the market in terms of soundness and transparency, as well as appropriate insurance cover in the event of negative events such as cyber attacks and/or hacking;
  • Young Platform does not use the deposited funds in any way;
  • Funds are retained by Young Platform in a 1:1 ratio;
  • Young Platform is not financially exposed to FTX or Alameda Research and the FTT token has never been supported by our exchange.

Here are the measures we take to ensure the safety of our users:

  1. We keep your funds safe
    As stated before, we work tirelessly to secure your assets on our platform. In concrete terms, this commitment translates into choosing an industry leader for asset safekeeping such as Fireblocks. We also ensure that all your funds are always available on demand and that you can withdraw when you wish.
  1. We choose industry-leading security protocols
    Young Platform uses the best security protocols. This way we can guard your data and funds from every angle. From asset protection, to privacy protection, risk control and user security alerts.
  1. We work with institutions on compliance initiatives
    At Young Platform, we work closely with Italian and European regulators and institutions to ensure high security standards. Young Platform was the first Italian cryptocurrency exchange to undergo regular audits by an auditing firm and to register with the Organismo Agenti e Mediatori (OAM), which requires the provision of quarterly reports to the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance.
  1. We provide all the tools for a responsible approach to cryptocurrencies free of charge
    Young Platform has everything you need to decide how to use your funds: up-to-date security guides, industry news, resources to get an overview of possible risks. All this is available on our Academy and our Blog. You can start reading about self-custody best practices, or learn more about what happened to FTX and why Young Platform is not involved in the affair.
  1. We work for platform transparency
    We are satisfied with our procedures that guarantee a safe experience for users, but security is a job that never stops. That is why we are looking further and trying to improve on our achievements. In this regard, Young Platform is taking further measures, integrating new systems to improve the technical solutions for the safekeeping of customer assets in the long term and to make them more transparent.

Young Platform recognises its responsibility to create a reliable and secure environment. In this mission, contact with users is crucial. We are proud to offer you comprehensive support through our Support Team. If you have any questions or concerns, our team is available to answer them at any time.

Thank you for your trust in us,

Young Platform Team

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Binance and FTX: what’s happening in the crypto world?

Binance and FTX: What's happening in the crypto world?

The Binance and FTX case explained point by point. What is happening in the crypto world? How is the community reacting?

2022 is turning out to be a busy year for the cryptocurrency sector. In recent days, a succession of events, from Binance’s sale of FTT tokens to the news of the FTX exchange’s bankruptcy, has shocked the market ; which is currently experiencing a major decline. In this article, you will find an account of the story in all its passages and the reactions of the community. What is happening in the crypto world?

Who is involved in the affair?

Before getting to the heart of the matter, let’s summarise who the main actors involved are:

  1. Binance: one of the largest and most widely used centralised cryptocurrency exchanges, founded in 2017 and based in the Cayman Islands;
  2. Changpeng Zhao: CEO and founder of Binance, also known as CZ;
  3. FTX: another centralised exchange, founded in 2019 and based in the Bahamas. Its utility token is FTT;
  4. Sam Bankman-Fried: also referred to by the initials SBF, founder of FTX and Alameda Research;
  5. Alameda Research: a trading company whose CEO is Caroline Ellison. Alameda Research was founded by SBF and is these days accused of being not so transparently connected with FTX.

The relationship between Binance and FTX over the years

Binance and FTX are two of the leading centralised exchanges (CEXs) competing for supremacy in the crypto sector. Last year they generated 30% of all trading volume on CEXs together, totalling $27.5 trillion. Binance and FTX have not always been business rivals, in fact the two companies have been very close in the past. In 2019 Binance was one of FTX’s earliest backers and investors, and the partnership between the two exchanges continued until 2021 when FTX bought back its shares in Binance for $2.1 billion, most of this sum was settled in FTT tokens.

The crucial moments of the Binance vs FTX saga

Twitter has become the stage for all the key events in the crypto world. In order not to get lost in the memes, let’s clarify by following all the steps of the Binance-FTX affair.

• 6/11: CZ announces that Binance will sell all its FTT tokens

With a tweet on his personal profile, CZ announced on the 6th of November that he would be selling all FTT tokens held by Binance, due to ‘recent revelations that have come to light’. On this occasion CZ assured that the Binance team would try to minimise the impact on the market of this transaction (spoiler: the crypto market devolved into chaos) and that the decision was made looking at the mistakes that were made in the past with LUNA, the crypto that collapsed in May 2022. The founder of Binance also explained that this was in no way a move to harm a competitor.

Within hours of the publication of this tweet, the price of the FTT token dropped more than 10%. CZ’s decision threw users into a panic (ever heard of FUD?) and in 72 hours more than $6 billion was withdrawn from FTX.

• What are the ‘recently emerged revelations’ CZ is talking about?

The ‘revelations’ referred to by CZ are rumours about the financial difficulties of FTX and Alameda Research. On the 2nd of November, CoinDesk published a report on the financial state of FTX and Alameda Research. Alameda’s balance sheet showed that the trading company is ‘heavily’ dependent on the FTT token, which it uses as collateral. In other words, the FTX exchange would be involved with Alameda much more than SBF has always claimed. For CZ this proved problematic, as the lesson learned from the collapse of Terra (LUNA) is: “never use a token that you created yourself as collateral”. In general, FTX and SBF have been accused of a lack of transparency.

Reinforcing these allegations, Reuters claims that FTX secretly transferred USD 4 billion to Alameda between May and June.

• 6/11: Caroline Ellison of Alameda denies everything

The managing director of Alameda Research, Caroline Ellison, denied the rumours circulating about the trading company, explaining that Alameda also owns other assets besides the FTT token. Ellison also proposed that CZ buy Binance’s FTT tokens for $22 each. 

• 7/11: SBF’s denial makes an appearance (now deleted from Twitter)

On the 7th of November, SBF wrote on Twitter that all rumours are unfounded: ‘a competitor is trying to attack us with false rumours. Assets are fine’. The tweet, however, was deleted.

• 8/11: FTX blocks withdrawals and news of takeover arrives

After the blocking of withdrawals on the FTX exchange, news came of a possible takeover by Binance. CZ stated that FTX had asked for Binance’s help and that the acquisition would have the protection of users as its primary purpose. The founder of Binance then signed a non-binding agreement.

• 9/11: Justin Sun at work with FTX

On the 9th of November, Justin Sun, the founder of the Tron blockchain, said he was working with FTX to find a solution and protect the holders of Tron tokens on FTX.

• 10/11: Binance backs off

‘Following corporate due diligence and the latest news regarding the mismanagement of client funds and alleged investigations by US agencies, we have decided not to pursue the potential acquisition’. With these words, CZ announced that Binance would no longer buy FTX. In a series of tweets, CZ went on to explain how the failure of FTX is a defeat for the entire industry and that regulation of crypto is likely to be increasingly aggressive from now on.

• 11/11: FTX files for bankruptcy

After scrambling for funds (about $9 billion) to solve liquidity problems, on the 11th of November, SBF resigned as CEO of the exchange and FTX filed for bankruptcy.  

The secondary effects of the FTX crisis

On the 10th of November, the crypto market opened with -16.1% for BTC, -24.1% for ETH and -43% for SOL. The uncertainty of the situation made itself felt. The crypto that seems to be suffering the most in this situation is SOL, Solana’s coin. Why SOL in particular? SBF has always been a supporter of Solana, almost becoming its unofficial ‘ambassador’. In recent years, SBF has supported Solana and helped the project to grow. This close relationship has contributed to the drop in the price of SOL. Anatoly Yakovenko, founder of Solana, reported on Twitter that Solana Labs has no equity in FTX.

Among the companies that instead have dealings with FTX are venture capital firm Sequoia, which has alerted its shareholders to a $213.5 million exposure in FTX, and Galaxy Digital with $76.8 million. Amber Group said it has 10 percent of its funds locked up on SBF’s exchange, while Crypto.com has $10m (an insignificant amount according to CEO Kris Marszalek). Kraken stated that it has 9,000 FTT tokens but is not in contact with Alameda.

The FTX crisis has mainly affected user confidence, we see the issues raised by the community.

The reaction of the crypto community

The first topic discussed by those in the crypto world is the enormous power CZ and Binance have shown themselves to have over the markets. For some, it was CZ that engineered the whole affair that led to the collapse of FTX, starting with the insolvency rumours circulated. Beyond that, as in the case of Elon Musk and Twitter, CZ’s actions influenced the market. On this consideration, there are those who have dusted off the issue of the crypto world’s cult of personalities, suggesting that what is needed is true decentralisation that does not make the future of projects depend on the decisions of individuals. Isn’t that why Satoshi Nakamoto chose never to reveal his identity?

On the challenge of centralisation versus decentralisation, Stani Kulechov of Aave and Hayden Adams of Uniswap spoke out. The former argued that the only regulation for crypto is decentralised finance itself.

Adams also expressed himself in the same vein: ‘the basic financial infrastructure, such as the ability to exchange value, is too important to be controlled by corruptible centralised entities. This is one of the many reasons why I work on DeFi and decentralised exchanges.

For some, the collapse of FTX was the perfect opportunity to reaffirm the supposed superiority of the ideals of decentralisation. On the other hand, there are those who point out that these ideals at the moment seem to remain unchanged. Even for the most established dapps, security remains a challenge. At the moment, CEXs remain the connecting link between users, cryptocurrencies and traditional systems. It is up to the latter to ensure the security of users through regulations.

Could a single crypto regulation make a difference?

The absence of clear and unique rules for all industry players is another perspective from which to look at recent events. Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, pointed out that the FTX crisis is a symptom of this lack in the US. A country from which cryptocurrency exchanges flee because of oppressive policies, and that paradoxically find themselves with full freedom once they move abroad.

On the European side, Stefan Berger, a member of the European Parliament’s economic committee, explained that with the MiCA (Market in Crypto Assets) in place, an episode like FTX would never have occurred.

Meanwhile, in a press release from the 10th of November, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation announced that it had opened an investigation into the collapse of the FTX exchange.

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Young Platform on the FTX collapse

“FTX never passed Young Platform’s due diligence checks and we have never had any dependence on FTX. AUM are safe,” guarantees Italy’s largest exchange

The crisis affecting the FTX exchange was triggered by revelations concerning the balance sheet of Alameda, a company founded by CEO Sam Bankman-Fried

Turin, the 10th of November 2022 – The liquidity crisis that hit the FTX exchange, one of the largest in the world, has caused an earthquake in the cryptocurrency sector. However, it is one of a different nature than the collapse of LUNA at the beginning of the year. It is related to the particular condition of the companies FTX and Alameda Research.

The management model represented by Young Platform, Italy’s leading exchange community, differs markedly from what emerged from press reports concerning FTX and Alameda. This can be traced back to the managerial activities of Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and CEO of FTX as well as founder of Alameda. The latter company was dedicated to hedge fund and trading activities, and was also previously administered by Sam Bankman-Fried.

“FTX never passed Young Platform’s due diligence checks and we never had any dependence on FTX, so our clients’ Assets under management are safe. Moreover, the FTT token was not even listed on our platform, which means that no Young Platform client has lost money in connection with the FTX affair,” assures Mariano Carozzi, president of the Italian cryptocurrency trading platform, which has over one and a half million members.

FTX and Alameda Research were not as separate as advertised, according to news site CoinDesk, who had learned about Alameda’s balance sheet, causing solvency doubts to arise. This revealed that Alameda’s main asset was the FTX exchange’s token FTT, worth about $3.86 billion out of $14.6 billion in total assets.

Not only that, but the third largest asset was USD 2.16 billion of ‘FTT collateral’. This is therefore a huge component of the balance sheet, but what matters more is the quality of the asset. Not only did half of the balance sheet come from their own centralised entity, but it was linked to an illiquid token whose intrinsic value is almost impossible to calculate. Moreover, in the last period, the exchange had been active in acquiring companies in crisis. So, the balance sheet shows the consequences of these purchases, which may have been economically advantageous but financially very demanding.

“Young’s economic situation is very different, we have recently strengthened our capital endowment with a significant capital increase underwritten by leading Italian institutions, the working group and our business organisation. Moreover, we have never been attracted by financial transactions that, even if advantageous, were nevertheless risky”. This was highlighted by Andrea Ferrero, CEO of Young Platform, referring to the financing round led by Azimut in June and in which a pool of investors participated, including Banca Sella and United Ventures.

Young Platform represents a principled model for managing cryptocurrencies in a secure manner that is beneficial to customers and the company itself. The platform’s goal is to provide access to state-of-the-art crypto products while maintaining a conservative approach to business operations, security and financial resilience. This approach is also embodied in our choice of excellent partners, even at this difficult time for the market, such as our industry-leading custody service Fireblocks.”“Bitcoin is experiencing a moment of high volatility in the short term, but as an asset it does not change its intrinsic value and this makes us confident, despite everything,‘ Carozzi concludes. ‘In addition to the turbulence and inflation of the period, our industry has to deal with regulatory and normative uncertainties that still need to be remedied by institutions, in order to reward quality operators. The great virtue of cryptocurrencies so far has been their ability to learn from their mistakes and strengthen themselves accordingly. We believe that the best players will be rewarded in any regulatory and market environment’.

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Who stole Sex.com? The domain that took everyone to court

Sex.com: the internet domain theft worth 14 million dollars

In 1995, one of the most expensive domains in Internet history was stolen under mysterious circumstances. Here is the story of the theft of Sex.com!

Would you expect drama, mystery and bounty hunters from the affairs of an Internet domain? The reports from the Web are surprising, especially those from the beginning of its history. Similarly to the Crypto.com domain, Sex.com was disputed by many. At stake were court cases, millions of dollars and an epic scam. If blockchain had been involved in this story and if Sex.com had been an NFT domain, would things have turned out differently?

The mysterious theft of the Sex.com domain

This story takes place mainly in a US courtroom. On one side we find Gary Kremen, an engineer and businessman, who was clever enough in the 1990’s to register a series of generic domains such as Jobs.com, Housing.com and Sex.com. On the other, Stephen Cohen, a hardened fraudster, who became his worst enemy. Kremen had registered the domain Sex.com in 1994, the year he also founded the online dating site, Match.com.

Eight months after registering the domain, the engineer received an unusual message informing him that the email associated with the Sex.com domain had been changed. For Kremen, this was suspicious and upon checking, he realised that the domain ownership information had been changed. In other words, Kremen was no longer listed as the rightful owner of Sex.com. The engineer immediately called the indicated helpline number to ask why instead of his name there was that of a stranger, on the phone he found Cohen’s calm voice: ‘because the domain is not yours’. From here on, for the next twenty years, Kremen and Cohen will chase each other playing cops and robbers between the United States, Mexico and the rest of the world.

Could blockchain save the Sex.com domain?

It was initially unclear how Cohen had managed to pull off the theft of Sex.com, a domain worth millions of dollars even then. Apparently, Cohen cheated Network Solutions, the company that had sold the domain to Kremen, by posing as the new owner with a forged letter. Once he had obtained the domain, Cohen started to run the site by selling advertisements and earning half a million dollars a day. All this at a time when there was no Google or search engines, and people surfed the Internet using domain names directly. And not surprisingly, the word ‘sex’ attracted many curious people. Daily visitors to the Sex.com site hit record figures for the time.

Would the theft of the Sex.com domain happen with blockchain? Unlike traditional internet domains managed by centralised providers, the certification of ownership of NFT domains is immutably recorded on the blockchain and therefore difficult to falsify. Perhaps it would not have been so easy for Cohen to steal Sex.com if it had been an NFT domain. You cannot send letters to the blockchain and ask it to modify a smart contract. As with all NFTs, the NFT domain information is transparent and certifies that it is unique and in your possession. And anyone at any time can verify this. This is why NFT domains are used to keep your identity safe on the Internet. 

Manhunt in Mexico and Sex.com today

After five years of litigation, Kremen won the case and a precedent was set. Domains are in effect property, even if intangible, and therefore can be stolen. In 2001, Sex.com was returned and Cohen was ordered to pay Kremen $64 million in damages for lost profits from the use of the site. Here begins the second part of the incredible story of the Sex.com domain. Cohen, in order not to reimburse Kremen, fled across the border to Tijuana. The engineer then plastered the Mexican city with ‘wanted’ signs worthy of an old western film and thus unleashed bounty hunters who were unsuccessful. Kremen is still looking for Cohen.

Meanwhile, in 2006, Kremen auctioned Sex.com, which was bought by Escom for USD 14 million. After just four years, Escom was forced to sell the domain because it could not repay its debts and was about to face a lawsuit for insolvency (another trip to court). In 2010, Sex.com passed to Clover Holdings for USD 13 million. Currently, the domain is associated with a pornography site where users can upload and share with other users.

The story of the internet domain Sex.com is key to understanding why the internet needs the blockchain. On the Ethereum Name Service, a platform to buy NFT domains on Ethereum, the NFT domain “Sex.eth” was registered in 2019. While Unstoppable Domains‘ “Sex.crypto” was sold for 230 ETH (about $90,000) in 2020, making it the most expensive “.crypto” domain to date.

Will history repeat itself? Maybe even NFT domains with a ‘sex’ theme will be contested like Sex.com, for sure there will be a blockchain to support them with all its advantages.

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6 ways to use your Monuverse NFT

6 ways to use your Monuverse NFT

In preparation for the release of Episode I of Monuverse’s NFT collection, let’s explore 6 ways of using them

Let’s recap how the collaboration between Monuverse and Young Platform works, explained in full in this article.

By the 9th of November at 5 p.m. (UTC), Club members who want to attempt to be whitelisted must register with their wallet address on the whitelist page (check your email for link and password).

Those who are on the whitelist will be able to purchase and mint a maximum of 3 NFTs at the advantageous price of 0.07 ETH each on 11 November from 5 pm to 7 pm (UTC).

Once purchased, you can display your NFTs on OpenSea and similar applications.

Remember you will be able to see the real image or video you have purchased  only after the Reveal phase is completed.

Once you have obtained the NFT and discovered its contents, there are 6 benefits and uses to which you have access.

1. Protection and promotion of cultural heritage

You are officially a Web3 philanthropist: by purchasing an NFT, you are helping to fund the preservation of the Peace Arch. And, by purchasing future Episodes, you will do the same for other monuments.

For Episode I, the Milanese monument protection organisation will receive 12% of the royalties from your purchase in the primary market (minting), while in the secondary market it will receive 1%.

In metaverse galleries, on compatible social networks and on your screens at home, you will be able to display and promote your work freely. The blockchain will irrefutably tell your story about how you helped preserve an artistic work.

2. Web3 Community

Crypto communities are typically found on messaging and social apps, e.g. Discord, Reddit, Telegram, while projects and teams communicate mainly on twitter (for now). Monuverse also has a Discord server for its patron community and a Twitter profile for official communications.

As is often the case, the possibility of participating in events and conversations with the team is much higher for owners of rare NFTs.

3. PFP and Avatar

There are different types of NFTs. Among them, PFPs are very popular on social media. They are simply NFTs used as profile pictures, so they are usually static images representing the face of a character. The NFTs of the Bored Ape Yacht Club for example are widely used as profile pictures.

An Avatar, on the other hand, is a 3D version of a character. It is usually used in video games or simply in a metaverse and is often customisable through accessories and skins.

Monuverse gives its community a PFP and an Avatar in the metaverse it is building, and you can use them not only on Monuverse, but on most Web3 applications.

Each Episode corresponds to PFPs and Avatars that reflect the historical period or culture of the chosen monument. So, for example, for Episode I, centred on the Arch of Peace, characters from the Napoleonic era will be distributed.

4. Whitelist

Owning a Monuverse NFT grants you priority access to the whitelist of future episodes. This means that you can mine your NFT at a cheap price compared to the public sale price. The rarer your NFT is, the more likely it will be to be whitelisted.

5. Voting rights

You can vote with the rest of the community to choose the next monuments that Monuverse will commit to replicate and protect. From the roadmap, the team also plans to create a more extensive voting system for the community and a DAO to reward active user participation.

6. Buying and selling

Of course you can resell your Monuverse NFTs either before the Reveal phase or afterwards, on the secondary market of OpenSea and other aggregators such as LooksRare, Rarible, x2y2. You can sell as many as you want; giving up ownership of all NFTs. However, this also means giving up the community and its benefits.

Moreover, selling is only an option if you think that the NFT you own may be in such demand on the market that it will bring you a significant profit for you in the chosen period. 

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Club benefit: access to the NFT Monuverse whitelist

club benefit monuverse nfts

Find out how to get early access to Monuverse NFTs at an advantageous price, thanks to the Clubs

8/11 update: the price of NFTs minted by those on the whitelist has been lowered to 0.07 ETH.

Monuverse is an ambitious project that seeks to transpose the world’s cultural heritage into the metaverse, with the aim of protecting its preservation and spreading awareness of the great cultural heritage to which we still have access.

We did say the benefits for clubs would continue, didn’t we? Well, as promised, here’s another one! Find out how to access the whitelist for the next Monuverse NFT drop.

What is Monuverse?

The Monuverse project creates NFT collections representing replicas of monuments and cultural sites through 3D modelling, reconstruction, 3D imaging and generative art.

A portion of the proceeds from the sales of these NFTs will go to local institutions responsible for the maintenance and restoration of the monument represented in the NFT.

Besides the interest in terms of collecting, being one of the virtual owners of a real historical monument is also a way to contribute to the preservation of cultural heritage in a unique way. We say ‘one of the owners’ because, at least according to Italian intellectual property law, it is not possible to be the sole owner of an element of cultural heritage. Hence why they are fragmented NFTs in the form of collective ownership of the monument they represent.

Monuverse is starting its collection with an Italian monument, with its first release being NFTs of the Arco della Pace (Arch of Peace) in Milan. The ultimate goal is much broader: to populate a historical metaverse where users can use 3D avatars with epoch-specific clothing and participate in virtual events, art exhibitions, and festivals.

What benefits do you get by purchasing a Monuverse NFT?

By purchasing an NFT from a Monuverse collection, you’re contributing to the protection of cultural heritage. This is the main value of the token.

However, having a Monuverse NFT also means joining a community and participating in a project, which provides a number of benefits.

  1. You get a PFP and a free 3D Avatar.
    A PFP is a profile picture in NFT format: you can use it on social networking sites and in all applications that support NFTs.
    On the other hand, an Avatar is your character in the metaverse: Monuverse has created several designs insipired bu various historical eras and cultures.
  2. You get guaranteed access to the Whitelist for upcoming Episodes.
    I.e. the possibility of minting new NFT collections to be released in the future at the cheapest price.
  3. You have access to Monuverse initiatives and events.
    The first example was the artistic performance in Milan last December at the Arco della Pace.
  4. You have the right to vote on the next monuments that Monuverse will release.

Discover all the 6 ways to use your Monuverse NFT!

How will the NFTs be released?

The release of Monuverse collections is done by Episodes. Episode I will begin on the 11th of November, during which 7,777 unique NFTs classified into 9 rarity levels will be released.

On the 11th of November, Episode I will take place in three consecutive phases starting at 5pm (UTC):

  1. The Chosen Ones: minting for the top whitelist band;
  2. The Believers: minting for the second whitelist band, called ‘Pre Mint’;
  3. The Brave: minting for public sale.

The price of a single NFT varies according to the phase in which you participate. 

  1. The Chosen Ones: 0.09 ETH (approx. €145); lowered to 0.07 ETH (approx. €104)
  2. The Believers: 0.09 ETH (approx. €145);
  3. The Brave: 0.11 ETH (approx. €175).

Initially, each NFT will contain the same generic image. To find out which level of rarity you have purchased, you will have to wait about a week. At the end of the waiting period, the Reveal phase will begin, i.e. the phase in which you will discover the actual image or video of your NFT that will correspond to one of the 9 animations representing the different rarity levels.

Since it is an NFT, it will always be exchangeable, both in its generic version before Reveal and in its final post-Reveal version, in exchange for ETH.

What is the benefit for Club members?

Thanks to the collaboration between Young Platform and Monuverse, there are 1200 reserved places on the first-tier whitelist for club members.

Being on the whitelist allows early minting of up to 3 NFTs at 0.07 ETH (about €104), i.e. buying them, registering them on the blockchain and transferring them to your wallet.

Please note: you have until the 9th of November at 5 p.m. (UTC) to join a Club and sign-up for the whitelist!

As places are limited, priority will be given to members of higher-level clubs.

How to apply for the whitelist

By the 9th of November at 5 p.m. (UTC), Club members who want to attempt to be whitelisted must register with their wallet address on the whitelist page.

Follow these 3 basic steps.

1. Join a Club or increase your level

The very first thing to do if you are not in any Club or in a low-level Club, is definitely to sign up now. That way, you have time to deposit money, buy YNGs and lock them in a Club before the 9th of November.

The higher your Club level, the more likely you are to be whitelisted.

We recommend performing the remaining two steps from the desktop.

2. Create an Ethereum wallet

If you do not have a web wallet for Ethereum, one of the most convenient and compatible applications is Metamask. You can create one like this:

  • Go to Metamask
  • Click on ‘Install MetaMask for (browser)’.
  • Click on ‘Add to (browser)’.
  • After installation, a new tab should open automatically. If it does not, go to the list of extensions and click on MetaMask.
  • Click on ‘Create a Portfolio’.
  • Click on ‘Accept’.
  • Set a password, check the box to accept the Terms of Use and click ‘Create’.
  • Click ‘Next’ and then ‘Click here to reveal the secret words’.
  • Write the secret phrase (seed phrase) on paper now and keep it in a safe place. Click on ‘Next’.
  • Select the words of the secret phrase in the correct order and click ‘Confirm’.

3. Sign-up on the minting page

  • Register at the minting page
    • Click on ‘Login to Sign-up’.
    • Click on ‘Metamask’.
  • Enter the password communicated by Young Platform by email after 48 hours of joining the Club (or November 5th if you are already in a Club).
  • Connect your wallet, enter your name and click on Sign-up.
  • If you see a congratulations pop-up, you are whitelisted.
  • Transfer your ETH from Young Platform to Metamask. If you do not have ETH, buy them on Young Platform and then transfer them to Metamask. 

Please note: When deciding how much ETH to buy and transfer to Metamask, please consider: 1) the number of NFTs you want to buy (maximum 3), 2) ETH transfer fees to Metamask (0.0025 ETH), minting fees (min. 3$) and for any emergency transactions in case of an error.

How do I transfer my ETH to Metamask?

You can send ETH and tokens from another wallet to a new MetaMask account. Simply copy your new public MetaMask address and go to your existing wallet or exchange to send funds to your new wallet address.

You can find your MetaMask address under the account name (in the format 0x12r45…6HJ9).

To transfer ETH from Young Platform follow this guide.

For further questions please consult the MetaMask FAQ by clicking here.

What should I do on the 11th of November?

If you made it onto the whitelist, on the 11th of November, you will be able to participate in the early minting from 17.00 UTC for around 2-3 hours, at 0.07 ETH per mint.

You can still buy NFTs in later stages if you wish, but they will have the costs specified above.

In any case, here is how to mint:

  1. Click on the link we will email you 48 hours after you join the Club (or November 5th if you are already in a Club).
  2. Connect your wallet.
  3. Select the number of NFTs you wish to purchase (maximum 3 whitelisted).
  4. Click on Mint to make payment in ETH.
  5. Wait for a congratulations window to appear.

Congratulations, NFTs are now inside your wallet!

How to view your NFT

Once purchased, you can view and display your NFTs on all major generic marketplaces including OpenSea.

To view your NFTs simply:

  1. Go to OpenSea.
  2. Link your wallet in the top right-hand corner by clicking on the profile or wallet icon
  3. Go back to your profile. Under the ‘Collected’ tab, you can view your NFTs.

Remember that you will only be able to see the real image or video you have purchased after the reveal process is done.

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Young Platform signs a partnership with the world’s leading Web3 domain provider

Young Platform signs a partnership with Unstoppable Domains

A partnership has been secured between the world’s leading provider of Web3 domains, Unstoppable Domains, and Italy’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, Young Platform.

Turin, the 2nd of November 2022 – Young Platform, Italy’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, has signed a partnership with Unstoppable Domains, the world’s leading provider of Web3 domains. The partnership will allow more than 1.5 million people in Italy, present within the Young Platform ecosystem, to educate themselves on the Web3 world and to receive a free credit to purchase a Web3 domain.

The partnership was signed by Andrea Ferrero, Co-Founder and CEO of Young Platform and Sandy Carter, SVP and Channel Chief of Unstoppable Domains. Young Platform is a scale-up founded in Turin in 2018, which today has names such as Azimut, United Ventures and Banca Sella among its investors. 

This is a blockchain-based collaboration, bringing NFTs and cryptocurrencies together. Founded in San Francisco, California, Unstoppable Domains allows people to create Web3 domains that can become a fundamental part of their digital identity. A Web3 domain, in its simplest form, is a name (example: alicesmith.nft) that exists as an NFT on the blockchain. This allows the owner of the domain to have all associated data under their direct control. They are also able to use it as a digital identity across hundreds of web3 Dapps, wallets and exchanges. These use cases can be summarised in one fundamental concept: data sovereignty. Data sovereignty means that only the owner has the right to decide who or what can access their data, what data they want to share with which apps as well as how it is used.

In Web2, it is difficult, if not impossible, to move data from one app to another because big technology companies create closed ecosystems. For example, we can publish the same content on all Meta services or use the same account for all Amazon services, but using the same content or credentials on both is impossible.

By contrast, the definition of Web3 is based on content sovereignty: there are no companies asking for data in exchange for services. Instead, developers create services, and users use and pay for them without relinquishing control of their data. All this is possible thanks to blockchain technology, which makes the ownership of all kinds of tokens immutable and secure with cryptography. Smart contracts are crucial for this too, as they make it possible to build decentralised applications (DApps).

Young Platform is positioned as the Italian entry point for the cryptocurrency market, and it now has over 1.5 million registered users. Young’s proprietary token (YNG), based on Ethereum, was first distributed free of charge only through educational features (such as the Step app), and then introduced to the market in June 2022. In the same month, Young Platform closed a EUR 16 million investment round led by Azimut. The ‘cryptocompany’ aims to create a team of 110 employees by the end of the year.  Having taken its first steps in the i3P incubator of the Politecnico di Torino, today, Young Platform aims to become a smart digital bank, natively focused on digital services with solid foundations based on regulatory compliance and dialogue with regulators. The company retains a mix of talent and experience, thanks to an advisory board of professionals from high finance and the tech world, as well as the ability to aggregate an aware and resilient community.

“Unstoppable is giving the power of the Internet back to the people. We’re excited to partner with Young Platform to expand access to Web3 through strong crypto education and access to Web3 domains,” says Sandy Carter, SVP and Channel Chief of Unstoppable Domains.

“This powerful integration is just one step in an exciting journey to facilitate Web3 adoption. We are excited to partner with Unstoppable Domains, and are confident that this implementation is just one of many more exciting collaborations to come,” says Andrea Ferrero. “Unstoppable Domains is doing an amazing job of paving the way for a decentralised identity. Suffice it to say that your Unstoppable Web3 domain is your wallet address, your decentralised web access and your universal username, all at the same time. Web3 was introduced in our educational paths and integrated in our products. Thanks to this effort, it’s now accessible to everyone, also in Italy.”