Over the past 24 months, cryptocurrencies and anything blockchain related have been all the rage. If you happened to have some free cash burning a hole in your pocket, maybe you’d be tempted to jump into one of the latest hyped coins or better yet, grab a few NFTs. You’d not only be supporting a unique and individual token but you’d be buying a piece of digital history as the world starts to accept the legitimized worth of digital currencies. While there is a massive draw to the space, there is also ample room for manipulation of the global interest in NFTs.
By Marcus Henry
September 23rd 2021
NFTs are unique and collectible digital tokens that can never be replicated. They can be viewed, downloaded, printed, and experienced free of charge but their ownership is unique and legitimized via the blockchain. Many of us grew up collecting old Star Wars toys and football cars. Much like the sought after rookie card or the telescopes saber Vader action figure, NFTs can become highly valued in rapid secession. Unlike tangible assets, or even other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin that can be traded one for one, NFTs valuation is different by their very nature which opens up several areas that can be exploited.
Along with being a somewhat speculative asset, much like any collectible, NFTs can be open to manipulation like what recently happened with the release of The Sevens NFT drop and the subsequent exploitation of the offering. During the run-up to the release of The Sevens NFT drop, the group was able to build up massive interest and momentum in the community. Users across multiple platforms were clamoring away in anticipation of the drop going so far as adding multiple 7’s to their handle to show their support. In a quick turn of events, all the momentum that was built up prior to the release of The Sevens quickly faded when multiple issues became apparent at launch.
The first problem encountered by buyers was the exorbitant gas fees being charged to mint. While this was somewhat expected by some, others were caught completely off gaurd. The listed mint price for The Sevens was a minimal 0.07 ETH, users quickly encountered gas fees charging up to hundreds of thousands of dollars mere seconds after the sale went live. The second, and much more egregious downfall was when one user found a shortcoming in the smart contract which allowed them to mint 1000 NFTs via Etherscan instead of the official site of The Sevens allowing them to forgo the high gas fees while other users were draining their wallets. This single user was able to acquire one seventh of the total NFT offerings by The Sevens essentially winning the gas wars and coming out singularly on top of the pile.
Essentially, this user was able to game the system by generating their own smart contract which circumnavigated The Sevens own contract and timestamp limiter allowing them the ability to collect so many of the NFTs. The rebel smart contract was able to supersede the original protections put in place by The Sevens and not only ensure that this sole user’s transactions went through, but that they did so with incredibly low gas fees. In a secondary blow, this user also created an opened account listing the newly gathered NFTs for sale drawing the attention of others who were left out in the cold during the original offering by The Sevens, essentially getting other users to buy the same NFTs they just purchased at a discount for a premium.
The story ends with a half smile. It turns out that this user was actually a massive fan of The Sevens which drove them to go to such lengths to acquire so many of the unique and highly sought after NFTs. They simply saw a glitch in the system and acted on it. The Sevens ended up striking a deal with the buyer to get back half of the NFTs to avoid negative ramifications from going to reality. It turns out that much like waking up at 4 am to get in line for a comic convention with rare offerings, collectors will go to any length to get what they’re after.
New technologies go through fits of growth and times of despair. The end game often lays in what direction said entity goes after a negative episode. While The Sevens went through a very difficult learning curve, there is much to be learned and gained as an NFT community at large from the episode. For one, developers are now keenly aware of the exploit. Another is the importance of following only official announcements and links to opensea.io, which guarantees that your transaction starts and finishes from the official source. Another important safety net is to wait until any project, no matter how appealing, does at least 100 Ether in transactions and achieves verification from opensea.io before buying in.
The folks over at WeGoBattle are working hard to counter some of these very same problems. Offering NFTs unique to their battleverse, the group has been active every step of the way to ensure that their smart contracts and drops are both secure and fairly available to all that are interested. They have shown tireless initiative to stay steps ahead of these same issues that can plaque a drop or release. It would not be surprising, given some of the issues that arise in the space, if more people start to look to WeGoBattle and their operating procedures to secure access to their offerings.
You can learn more about WeGoBattle and their NFT Battleverse by checking out their website.
WeGoBattle’s NFT-based Battle Pods can be purchased on OpenSea.
Check out WeGoBattle on Twitter @wegobattle, Discord, YouTube and Reddit r/WeGoBattle.
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