It's Bitcoin Pizza Day

GM Readers!📪 It's BitDegree Insider, and it's time to grab that Web3 popcorn.

⭐️Today's selection:

• 🍕Bitcoin Pizza Day
• 😅MetaMask OOPSIE
• 💀Tornado Cash REKT
• 💰Venture Monday
• 📰Bite-Sized News

BITCOIN PIZZA DAY

Let's go back in time.

It's noon, May 18, 2010.

The oldest cryptocurrency forum, Bitcointalk.org, sees programmers engaging in mundane conversations. They discuss the development of the Bitcoin source code and the challenges it may face.

One of the participants on Bitcointalk.org was Laszlo Hanyecz.

He frequently corresponded with Satoshi Nakamoto and even mined bitcoins himself.

So, on May 18, 2010, Laszlo Hanyecz enters Bitcointalk.org with quite an interesting idea.

He starts a thread and offers to send 10,000 Bitcoin to anyone who orders him two pizzas and gets them delivered to his home. He also lists in detail what toppings he prefers.

At that time, 10,000 Bitcoin was equivalent to $25.

There were many interested parties, but many couldn't complete the transaction because the protocol was slow.

The fee at that time was 0.99 Bitcoin, and confirmation took 4 days.

A forum participant named Jeremy Sturdivant from California became the buyer.

He paid 41 dollars for two pizzas from Papa John's.

And so... 4 days later, on May 22, 2010, a user with the nickname "laszlo" posted that the deal has been sealed.

This date became known as Bitcoin Pizza Day.

The very idea of buying something tangible with cryptocurrency was considered revolutionary at that time.

Where did those 10,000 Bitcoin go?

At that time, Jeremy Sturdivant was only 19 years old.

He couldn't have imagined that fate just gifted him a chance to become a millionaire.

However, Sturdivant quickly spent his Bitcoin on various trivial things.

At the time of his last purchase, the Bitcoin exchange rate was around $400.

Sturdivant considers it a successful investment.

Like Hanyecz, he forever engraved his name in the history of cryptocurrencies.

"Give a man a pizza, he'll be fed for a day; let him buy pizza with Bitcoin, and it will revolutionize the economy," Sturdivant jokingly remarked once.

Remember, this was in 2010 when the Bitcoin exchange rate was only about $0.01. But even at such a rate, the coins were simply not valuable to anyone.

There were no exchanges, wallets, or fast Lightning Network payments.

Hanyecz simply had these 'hypothetical' coins stored on his hard drive.

If he hadn't made the initial proposal, those Bitcoin would have continued gathering dust in his disk.

The value of Bitcoin primarily depends on the acceptance and demand from new users.

The most expensive pizza in history became the catalyst for market development.

Just a couple of months later, the first cryptocurrency exchange appeared.

TL;DR: Today we celebrate Bitcoin Pizza Day. On May 22, 2010, Laszlo Hanyecz, a programmer, bought two pizzas for 10,000 Bitcoin. At that time, this was worth very little. Today this would be over $268 million.

METAMASK OOPSIE

Recently, there has been a buzz on social media regarding the updated rules from ConsenSys, the guys behind MetaMask.

At one point, the rules state that the company reserves the right to collect government taxes and fees.

Many interpreted this as a threat to MetaMask users, with some even claiming that "decentralization is dying."

It was as if taxes were automatically deducted from everyone during swaps and similar transactions.

Naturally, this caused significant FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt).

To clarify the situation, ConsenSys has published a detailed explanation, starting with the most important aspect:

Regarding the disputed point, it applies to specific ConsenSys products that involve tax payments.

For example, among some of the Infura service users, there are credit card developers.

According to the laws, they must account for taxes on payments as they integrate their product.

"The mentioned terms are not new. They apply to our products subject to sales tax," continues the explanation.

ConsenSys emphasized that legal terminology can be complex, leading to confusion.

However, MetaMask and any other products from the company do not involve tax payments.

TL;DR: Recent social media buzz about updated rules from ConsenSys, the team behind MetaMask, caused confusion and fear among users. The rules mentioning government taxes and fees were misinterpreted as a threat to MetaMask users and decentralization. ConsenSys clarified that the tax-related rules only apply to specific products involving tax payments, such as Infura service.

TORNADO CASH REKT

On the evening of May 20th, a cyber attack occurred on Tornado Cash, enabling a hacker to gain full control over the mixer system.

As a result, they were able to withdraw all of the locked tokens, drain all tokens in the management contract, and block the router. Ouch.

In total, the attacker took 483,000 TORN from the Tornado Cash management vault (of which they sold 385,300 TORN and exchanged them for 375 ETH, subsequently attempting to launder the money through still-functioning Tornado Cash as a tool).

Overall, it is sad to admit that Tornado Cash's management effectively ceased to exist today.

The hacker took control of 1.2 million votes, rendering the remaining 700,000 "legitimate" votes (from real people) weightless, therefore, powerless.

Binance has stopped accepting TORN deposits.

The exchange is the largest holder of the tokens. Developers are attempting to roll back the updates with the help of Binance and recreate the entire governance system.

Once again, the attack on Tornado Cash exposes security vulnerabilities in DAOs.

However, like all other hacks, these incidents contribute to the long-term development of the blockchain ecosystem. Despite how painful they can get, these events serve as lessons.

TL;DR: Tornado Cash experienced a cyber attack where a hacker gained full control over the mixer system. They withdrew locked tokens, drained tokens in the management contract, and blocked the router.

VENTURE MONDAYS

An investment round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z crypto) and including Samsung Next, Hashed, Mirana Ventures, dao5 (daofive), Two Small Fish Ventures, Berggruen Holdings, and SLVC brought in $29.3 million for the web3 firm Story Protocol.

Their vision is "Powering web3 narrative universes via story legos."

But all of this takes place in the project's ALPHA stage.

No more details are available, it looks like the only possibility to contribute and join this adventure, is by being super mega early.

SELECTED MEME OF THE DAY

BITE-SIZED NEWS

• During Divorce, Forensic Accountant Discovers Husband's Hidden Bitcoin Treasure. Husband was obligated to share a portion of his BTC with his soon-to-be ex-wife.
• Crypto Exchange Hotbit Shuts Down, Encourages Users to Withdraw Funds Promptly. Yet another crypto-related firm is closing its doors.
• Blockchain Security Firm Advises Caution Despite Fall in Crypto Hacks in Q1. They claim the downfall of crypto hacks is a "temporary reprieve."