OpenSea vampire attacked, Tesla begins DOGE support | Daily News| OKEx Academy

In other news, Rio de Janeiro is set to become the first Brazilian city to hold BTC on its balance sheet.

The nonfungible token sector is heating up to start the new year after LooksRare launched a vampire attack on leading NFT platform OpenSea. Meanwhile, the government of the United States has scheduled a hard look at the impacts of the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry on the environment while Tesla begins support for DOGE.

Here’s everything you need to know about these stories, and more, in this week’s edition of OKEx Insights’ News of the Week.

LooksRare launches vampire attack on OpenSea

A vampire attack on leading nonfungible token marketplace OpenSea was commenced this week after competitor LooksRare launched alongside a claimable token, LOOKS. The stake-able token is primarily meant to incentivize users to switch from OpenSea by rewarding them with portions of LooksRare’s trading fees.

Key takeaways

• This is the first time a vampire attack has been commenced against OpenSea, but it likely won’t be the last. The leading NFT platform is expected to come up against increasingly stiffer competition — especially because it currently does not incentivize its users through its own nonexistent token.
• LooksRare has already run into its first major issue — namely that users who interface with MetaMask via Trezor hardware wallets are currently unable to claim their LOOKS.

OpenSea selfies surge in overnight sensation

After selling out a series of nonfungible tokens featuring selfies taken daily since 2017, Ghozali Ghozalu’s “Ghozali Everyday” collection has seen some 320 ETH in volume traded on OpenSea. Each selfie originally sold for 0.001 ETH.

Key takeaway

• Though the floor price for the collection is currently 0.2 ETH — down more than 50% from its peak — Ghozalu’s success shows that anybody can cause an overnight splash with NFTs. 

Congressional hearing on crypto mining scheduled

The House Energy and Commerce Oversight Subcommittee in the United States has announced the “Cleaning up cryptocurrency: The energy impact of blockchains” hearing, which will be held on Jan. 20. 

Key takeaway

• The scheduling of said hearing does not come as a surprise, given the dramatic increase in Bitcoin mining hash rate in the U.S. following a mass exodus of cryptocurrency miners from China last year.
• It is unlikely that the hearing will bode well for Bitcoin miners, given that oversight committees are primarily interested in mandating activities — and that environmental concerns regarding the cryptocurrency industry remain loud.

Tesla begins support for DOGE

After news broke that Tesla’s website’s source code indicated the electric car manufacturer was testing DOGE as a payment option, the company’s founder and CEO, Elon Musk, confirmed the story on Twitter.

Key takeaway

• Tesla’s DOGE support comes roughly one month after Musk — a long-time Dogecoin proponent — announced the plan, and less than one year after the company walked back its support for BTC.

Rio de Janeiro to invest in BTC

According to a report from Brazilian newspaper O Globo, the mayor of Rio de Janeiro plans on investing 1% of the city’s treasury reserves into BTC. Eduardo Paes reportedly made the comments at the Rio Innovation Week event on a panel with Francis Suarez, the pro-crypto mayor of Miami.

Key takeaways

• Rio de Janeiro’s secretary of finance and planning said that they should “study the legal framework” to offer discounts on tax payments made with BTC.
• The Brazilian city would become the first in the country to hold BTC on its balance sheet.

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