This Week on Crypto Twitter: Buterin Wants BAYC to Fund Public Goods, Bukele Rails Against Media
Create an account to save your articles.
Create an account to save your articles.
Illustration by Mitchell Preffer for Decrypt
Markets bounced back this week, and Crypto Twitter was a regular hive of activity.
It started with a bang on Tuesday when Neeraj Agrwal, director of comms at crypto think tank Coin Center, shared an article referencing Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin's recent Time magazine interview.
welcome to ape hate vitalik https://t.co/kzIc3x6Fx2 — Neeraj K. Agrawal (@NeerajKA) March 22, 2022
In Time, Buterin took aim at Bored Ape Yacht Club: "The peril is you have these $3 million monkeys and it becomes a different kind of gambling." The 28-year-old later added: "Ultimately, the goal of crypto is not to play games with million-dollar pictures of monkeys, it’s to do things that accomplish meaningful effects in the real world."
Buterin responded to Agrawal's accusation of "ape hate" with: "I don't hate apes, I just want them to fund public goods!"
I don't hate apes, I just want them to fund public goods! — vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) March 22, 2022
'Reuters FUD'?
The loudest voice in the Twittersphere this week was El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, because let’s be honest, it often is. On Wednesday, Bukele railed against "Reuters FUD" in a Twitter rant of typically Bukelesque proportions.
In a now-deleted tweet, Bitcoin Magazine shared a Reuters report that Bukele was meeting with Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao to seek support for the country's autocratic adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender, and for its delayed Bitcoin-backed bonds, the issuance of which will supposedly help build Bukele's so-called Bitcoin City—a tax-free enclave for Bitcoin users in the east of the country, powered by geothermal energy from nearby volcanoes.
Speaking to Reuters in another article the day before, El Salvador’s finance minister, Alejandro Zelaya, blamed the delay on unfavorable market conditions. Analyst Adam Cochran called Zelaya’s comments "hilarious": "If you actually believe in an asset and can drum up demand ... a down market is ideal to sell it. Pretty clear no one wanted this instrument."
El Salvador postponing their Bitcoin bond due to "unfavorable market conditions" is hilarious. If you actually believe in an asset and can drum up demand for you bond, a down market is ideal to sell it. Pretty clear no one wanted this instrument. — Adam Cochran (adamscochran.eth) (@adamscochran) March 23, 2022
Bukele shot down critics of the bond and replied to Bitcoin Magazine's tweet with: "I'm a fan of @BitcoinMagazine, please don's spread @Reuters FUD," adding that the "Volcano Bonds will be issued with @BitFinex" after a delay due to "prioritizing internal pension reform."
I’m a fan of @BitcoinMagazine, please don’t spread @Reuters FUD. The #Bitcoin Volcano Bonds 🌋 will be issued with @bitfinex. The short delay in the issuance is only because we are prioritizing internal pension reform and we have to send that to congress before. https://t.co/chUGgdDBDc — Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) March 23, 2022
In a follow-up tweet, Bukele clarified that he was meeting with Zhao to discuss "OTHER issues, not the Volcano Bonds." And a Twitter account providing public information about living in El Salvador responded thusly.
Bitcoin Magazine editor in detention pic.twitter.com/WQe1DIoq0w — Escape to El Salvador (@ElSalvadorVisas) March 23, 2022
Later in the week, Bukele posted pictures of his meeting with CZ.
'$DAI will die' vs. 'win with grace'
On Wednesday, Terra’s 30-year-old founder, Do Kwon, tweeted “By my hand $DAI will die.” Considering the fact that Terra’s American dollar-pegged stablecoin TerraUSD flipped Dai last year to become the fourth-biggest stablecoin by market capitalization, that comment felt like overkill.
By my hand $DAI will die. — Do Kwon 🌕 (@stablekwon) March 23, 2022
Crypto investment fund founder him.eth (@himgajria) leapt at the opportunity to remind Do Kwon of his former modesty.
On Friday, pop legend Madonna announced she officially had aped in. She thanked MoonPay for facilitating the transaction, and immediately rocked her half-million-dollar profile picture.
I finally entered the MetaVerse…,……….. My very own Ape! 🦧 Thanks @moonpay 🪄 We all need protection from Evil Eye. 🧿 pic.twitter.com/We5p9iy4hS — Madonna (@Madonna) March 25, 2022
NFT collector hotlneblng.eth (@hotlneblng_) screenshotted and tweeted a handful of Twitter reactions.
Oh nice, @Madonna joined the NFT space. I bet her fans are super excit- 🤣 pic.twitter.com/jMTjmax4XD — hotlneblng.eth👑 (@hotlneblng_) March 25, 2022
Internationally
The Kyiv Independent, an independent English-language Ukrainian news outlet, announced on Friday that the nation was launching an "NFT war museum" to raise funds while documenting war crimes committed by the invading Russian army.
⚡️Ukraine launches NFT war museum. According to the State Service for Special Communication and Information Protection, the museum will help document Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine and raise money for humanitarian aid. All the exhibited NFT tokens are available for purchase. — The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) March 25, 2022
40 years from now, people will be paying top dollar for these NFTs from the Russian invasion of Ukraine — Elias 🌻 (@zyxtesla) March 25, 2022
Others were less enthused:
Meanwhile in Canada, crypto proprietary trader Tradeboi Carti (@tradeboicarti16) tweeted his ire at Coinbase having to comply with new Canadian regulations that require the exchange to report transactions of over 1,000 CAD.
Back in the U.S., Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis continued working on legislation that, in part, would exempt from taxation many smaller purchases made with crypto.