This week saw several surprising developments for the crypto ecosystem—some positive, some troubling.
On Monday, an Ethereum NFT of the photo that inspired the Dogwifhat meme and eventual multi-billion dollar moneda meme phenomenon sold at auction—for a whopping 4.3 millones de dólares valor de ETH.
¡Felicidades Achi!
El 17 de noviembre de 2018, los dueños de Achi lo capturaron con un adorable sombrero ante la cámara.
El 18 de marzo de 2024, esa foto, Achi, perro con sombrero, se convirtió en nuestra segunda subasta más alta, recopilada por @GiganteRenacimiento por 1,210.759 ETH (4.3 millones de dólares). pic.twitter.com/KrAeQ5WMVm
That selling price instantly made Dogwifhat the most expensive meme-inspired NFT ever sold, dethroning Dux, the previous reigning champ in that category. The price of Dogwifhat spiked over $3 but has settled around $2.25 as of writing.
The eye-popping sale points to the resurgent health of the meme coin economy and the potential full-throated return del mercado NFT.
The South Korean owners of Achi, the dog featured in the Dogwifhat meme, later divulged that the payday from the NFT sale was far, far more than they ever anticipated. Path, dijo el facilitador seudónimo de la venta de Dogwifhat NFT Descifrar lo mismo.
The same day as Dogwifhat’s historic sale, Binance found itself embroiled in a minor controversy after accusations circulated on Twitter that an employee of the company may have been behind a suspiciously timed purchase of a new meme coin, BOME, that was shortly thereafter listed on the crypto exchange—a development that sent the token’s price surging.
The hubbub—which was partially fueled by the secrecy surrounding how Binance makes key decisions about which coins to list on its platforms—soon grew large enough that the company felt obligated to respond.
En un comunicado publicado en Binance’s Chinese-language Twitter account, the company referred to the matter as the “so-called BOME rat warehouse” incident and said it had conducted an internal investigation that concluded that the transaction in question had not been made by a Binance employee.
Twitter users still argued, though, that Binance should be more transparent about its token listing process. BOME, for example, was listed only two days after its creation—a fairly unusual move in an industry where such decisions often take months.
The greatest surprise of the week came on Wednesday, however, when reports surfaced that the Ethereum Foundation—the Swiss organization that maintains the network’s technical operations—is currently bajo investigación by an unnamed “state authority.”
While the state authority in question has not yet been officially confirmed, subsequent reports confirmed that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has also been subpoenaing American crypto firms about their relationships with the Ethereum Foundation—prompting fears that the SEC could be preparing a hail mary assault on the Ethereum network itself.
Could the SEC go full scorched earth? Absolutely, but I’ll still hold my breath for the moment. I’ve heard reasonable arguments that this might be the case, so be warned.
It’s gonna be funny when a judge orders the SEC to pay the Ethereum Foundation’s legal bills in 5-10 months.
— CryptoTaxGuy.ETH ⌐◨-◨ 🦇🔊🛡️ (@CryptoTaxGuyETH) Marzo 20, 2024
Others, though, cautioned that—-regardless of prior results—the prospect of a U.S. government-backed effort to censure one of the most important technical teams in the crypto ecosystem was no laughing matter.
