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    5 outlandish and weird crypto stories of 2024

    Labrechejeremy75044By No Comments6 Mins Read


    Whereas 2024 will doubtless be remembered as crypto’s coming-of-age 12 months, with spot Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) exchange-traded funds launched in the USA and the trade successful assist from once-skeptical politicians, don’t be fooled — the bizarre and wacky world of crypto hasn’t gone away. 

    Listed here are a few of the craziest crypto tales from 2024.

    The FBI created its personal shitcoin

    In Could, the USA Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) created a fake AI-related token to catch fraudsters engaged in market manipulation.

    The “lure token,” NexFundAI (NEXF), was designed to behave as bait, focusing on folks engaged in fraudulent cryptocurrency actions, significantly pump-and-dump schemes. 

    The FBI, masking as scammers, advised merchants it needed assist in manipulating the token’s buying and selling quantity to idiot buyers into believing that NEXF was extra common than it was.

    A minimum of 18 people have been charged from the FBI’s sting operation.

    The FBI could have engaged in copyright infringement, because the supply code it used wasn’t licensed, Rikka Regulation managing accomplice Charlyn Ho advised Cointelegraph.

    Supply: Cygaar

    However the FBI would in all probability be effective if an motion have been introduced in opposition to it in court docket, because the MIT license it used was “broadly designed to present folks broad rights to make use of the software program.”

    TruthorDare dev units himself on hearth

    There’s a cause why loopy stunts are finest left to the professionals. 

    In a Could 22 livestream gone horribly improper, TruthOrDare (DARE) memecoin developer Mikol made his pals douse him in isopropyl alcohol after which shoot fireworks at him to achieve consideration for his memecoin.

    The tip consequence was third-degree burns over his face and his physique, a number of days spent within the hospital, and a hefty medical invoice.

    The livestream rapidly was chaos when Mikol was hit with the barrage of fireworks, setting him alight as he screamed in ache. One other particular person then advised the cameraman to “cease recording and begin serving to.”

    The stunt did, nevertheless, seize the eye of some memecoin merchants, pushing DARE’s market cap above $370,000 a number of hours later, DEX Screener data reveals. It reached a excessive of $450,000 about two weeks later however has since tanked under $50,000.

    Over $3,000 was raised from an obvious GoFundMe fundraiser to help Mikol along with his medical invoice.

    Mikol says he’s not performing TruthOrDare stunts for memecoin clout and is as an alternative targeted on enhancing himself and his relationship with god.

    “I simply wanna make it out the trenches such as you. I simply wanna be glad and profitable,” Mikol posted to X on Oct. 4.

    “I simply wanna be in keeping with god and be a optimistic human being with an outgoing persona that places smiles on peoples faces. Life gon hit you laborious however lords know i’ll by no means hand over.”

    13-year-old rug pulls on livestream, however merchants get final chortle

    Solana-based memecoin Gen Z Quant (QUANT) soared to a $70 million cap shortly after its 13-year-old creator seemingly rug-pulled the token on Pump.enjoyable’s livestream function.

    The college child offered all his 51 million QUANT tokens stay for round $30,000 whereas celebrating on Nov. 20 because the token plummeted.

    However different merchants had the final chortle, bringing the token again from the lifeless and profiting massively from a close to 77,000% worth pump whereas the 13-year-old was left along with his comparatively measly fortune. 

    One dealer made a 2,141x return worth nearly $1 million on their QUANT funding.

    QUANT soared to a excessive of $0.08 on Nov. 21 with a market cap of over $70 million however later fell under $1 million because the novelty wore off, DEXScreener information shows.

    It didn’t finish there.

    The child then created one other coin referred to as “Sorry” and reportedly dumped these tokens once more, making over $20,000.

    Tron’s Justin Solar eats a $6 million banana taped to a wall

    Tron founder Justin Solar paid $6.2 million at a New York public sale for an artwork piece consisting of a banana taped to a wall in November — which he has since eaten.

    “I’ve purchased the banana,” Solar wrote on X on Nov. 21. “This isn’t simply an paintings; it represents a cultural phenomenon that bridges the worlds of artwork, memes, and the cryptocurrency group.”

    Supply: Justin Sun

    Solar peeled again the banana pores and skin and took his first bite in entrance of an viewers on Nov. 29, revealing that it had a somewhat distinctive style:

    “To be sincere, for a banana with such a again story, the style is of course completely different from an atypical one.”

    French baguettes or Monero: Hackers go away Schneider Electrical with two choices

    The Hellcat crime group confirmed off its humorous facet when it hacked electronics agency Schneider Electrical in November and requested for a $125,000 ransom fee by way of one in all two choices: $125,000 price of Monero (XMR) cash or $125,000 price of tasty French baguettes.

    “To safe the deletion of this information and forestall its public launch, we require a fee of $125,000 USD in Baguettes,” Hellcat mentioned, according to a screenshot captured by Cyberscoop from Hellcat’s Tor-based web site, which has since gone offline.

    “Failure to satisfy this demand will consequence within the dissemination of the compromised data.”

    The Hellcat group’s assertion on its onion web site has since gone offline. Supply: Cyberscoop

    Nonetheless, later, Hellcat apparently requested to be paid within the privacy-focused Monero coin, the forex that Picus Safety researcher Hüseyin Can Yuceel mentioned Hellcat doubtless really needed to be paid in.

    Associated: 9 of the weirdest crypto projects, from Dentacoin to Cthulu

    “Ransomware is a enterprise mannequin, and we will consider this weird baguette demand as a advertising stunt,” Can Yuceel said in a Nov. 6 Forbes report.

    “[Hellcat is] making an attempt to get consideration and set up belief for future victims and associates for a doable ransomware-as-a-service operation,” Can Yuceel added.

    Schneider Electrical didn’t reply to questions from Cointelegraph about whether or not it paid the ransom.

    Different loopy issues that occurred in 2024

    A crypto consumer fat-fingered a whopping $90,000 fee for a $2,000 Ether (ETH) switch, whereas many individuals in crypto took their beef from X to the boxing ring.

    One of many more high-profile matches was with Ben “BitBoy” Armstrong, who beat “Extra Mild” — the creator behind the HarryPotterObamaSonic10Inu memecoin — in February. He then fought one other crypto influencer, Ansem, on Dec. 6 in Dubai, with the match ending in a draw.

    Infinex founder Kain Warwick and Bankless co-owner David Hoffmann additionally fought, with Hoffman successful in a unanimous resolution.

    Journal: 110M Doodles coffee cups appear at McDonald’s across the US: NFT Collector