Crypto

    Alby is deprecating their shared Bitcoin Lightning wallet service. I don’t want to host my own node or use their cloud hub so I transferred the satoshis I had there via lightning to my Strike wallet. Still amazes me how fast and simple Lightning is. ⚡️

    Things 4 Good 2024 Fall Fundraiser Insights

    We had a great time hosting our 4th annual Things 4 Good Fall Fundraiser. We raised $7,010 in donations for our four non-profits. I also like to take a look at the data from the sale to learn more for next year.

    We made 252 candles in preparation for the sale. We had 72 Winter Wonderland, 36 Old Fashioned, and 24 of the other six scents. We really had no idea what to do for inventory since this was the first year we sold to the public at the Mt. Olivet Holiday Boutique.

    We had 78 candle purchases which is a huge 42% jump from last year. On average people purchased 3 candles, down from 4 last year. However averages don’t tell the story. Most people got one candle, and there are a smaller number of people that get a large number — usually as gifts for the holidays. We had 5 transactions for more than 8 candles, accounting for a whopping 76 candles, 30% of our inventory.

    Auto-generated description: A bar graph displays the distribution of transactions by count, with the highest frequency at the candle count of 1.

    This year we had eight different scents, the exact same as last year. We renamed Plain Jane to Just Crackle, and it was similarly popular for folks wanting an unscented candle. We did fine tune the scents though and increased the scent load on some of them. Here is a look at rolling inventory as sales were happening.

    Auto-generated description: A line graph depicts the rolling inventory of various candle scents, showing a general decline across multiple transaction counts.

    Some observations:

    • You can see the early inventory trend drops quick which is a reflection of preorders that folk sent in.
    • True North was the first scent to sell out and sold just as fast as Winter Wonderland until they were all gone.
    • Just Crackle was popular with people buying many candles as gifts.
    • Old Fashioned had more than other scents but still sold out quickly.
    • Apple of My Eye underperformed and was the least popular scent until the end when there wasn’t as many options.
    • Winter Wonderland seems to sell faster when it is on display and people can see there are so many of them. On Saturday we kept 5 of each candle on the table and added more as they were sold. The rate of sales were slower. On Sunday there were 30+ of them on the table. Do people buy more when they see there are so many?
    • We sold out! Inventory went negative? Indeed we ran out of candles and I sent an email to let folks know if they were still planning to come. We did have a few people show up after we were out and I realized I had a couple dozen candles downstairs I had poured for myself. I brought them up and we kept raising more money for our causes!

    We offer folks a number of ways to donate and again Venmo was by far the most popular method, 3.5 times more popular than cash. More people knew what Zelle was this year. I continue to be surprised at how few people have Apple Pay setup. Three checks! I did not offer a method to pay via crypto this year. We’ve only ever had one candle sale in all the years we’ve done it using Bitcoin Lightning.

    Auto-generated description: A bar chart shows the frequency of different payment methods, with Venmo being the most used at 51 instances.

    We are already keeping notes for things we want to do to make next year’s Things 4 Good Fall Fundraiser even better. Send us an email if you have any suggestions!

    Also see 2024 Fall Fundraiser Results.

    I burned four of the runes I collected along with 75,000 FOXY to mint my Summoned Fox #9569! Famous Fox Federation is still a super fun NFT project.

    The Things 4 Good 2024 Candle Fundraiser POAP is ready to share with folks at this weekends event! It is a good example of how I’m not a designer. 😬

    Exploring FIFA Collect

    I’ve been intrigued with FIFA Collect for a bit. My interest was piqued when I saw that they are dropping collectibles with “Right to Buy” for the 2026 World Cup and I am very hopeful to go to at least a match. I’m guessing tickets will not be easy to get so getting a “Right to Buy” collectible for the city that I want to go to might be really nice.

    This morning I sat down with FIFA Collect and really figured out how it works. I was generally impressed. It is a full NFT solution built on the Algorand blockchain. I have used a ton of blockchains but hadn’t had a reason to use Algorand. Algorand is not a Ethereum ecosystem blockchain so I downloaded Pera wallet to get started. Then I bought $20 USD worth of ALGO on Coinbase, transferred to my wallet and swapped 100 ALGO for 12.232474 of USDC-a, which is the USDC stablecoin token for Algorand.

    A few minutes later I purchased my first FIFA collectible on the marketplace, a World Cup 1994 USA #611 poster.

    I can buy some drops and hope I get lucky to find a “right to buy” collectible. Alternatively, there are already collectibles on the marketplace that others are selling with those rights. Right now the cheapest “right to buy” collectibles are selling for around $300.

    ENS Continued Progress

    I continue to believe that despite the volume of scammers in crypto there is real value and important capability in this technology. Ethereum Name Service (ENS) is a key component of that and these three highlights stood out to me in ENS DAO Newsletter #70, Sept 24 2024

    ENS Domains Now Supported on PayPal and Venmo…

    ENS is now integrated with PayPal and Venmo, allowing users to simplify crypto transfers by entering their ENS name. This feature eliminates the need for copying long wallet addresses and enables secure, user-friendly transactions. An Address Book feature also allows users to save and recall frequently used ENS names and wallet addresses for faster transfers. This service is currently available in the U.S.

    Eth.Link Operating Again…

    The eth.link gateway is now officially powered by eth.limo, reviving its role as a key ENS gateway for decentralized websites.

    POAP Providing Free ENS…

    The latest release of the POAP Home app includes a feature allowing collectors to claim a free ENS subname.

    And how about these incredible August 2024 DAO financials:

    • Revenue > Cash Burn, Runway: 140 months
    • Revenue: $1.9M (vs. $2.4M last month)
    • Cash Inflow: $1M (vs. $1M last month)
    • Normalized Cash Burn: $0.8M
    • Reserves: $113M (ETH: 101M, USDC: 12M)
    • Total Endowment: $79.7M
    • P&L: -$15.7M (ETH mark-to-market)

    All powered as an operating DAO.

    Soon we start our trip to Ireland and I thought it would be fun to make a POAP for it. DALL-E got me started and I finalized it. I think it would be fun to share this with people we meet on our trip. We’ll see if I actually do it but I’m ready when the opportunity arises!

    See list of POAPs.

    Awesome to see my Weekly Thing Seven Year Anniversary POAP highlighted in the most recent Week in POAP today. 🤩

    I collected the ENS 7th Anniversary NFT! I continue to be a big fan of ENS and think it is one of the most important crypto projects.

    Also see 6th Anniversary.

    I’m looking forward to Minnesota Technology Association Tech Connect 2024 event on Wednesday. To have a little fun I created a You’ve met Jamie Thingelstad at Tech Connect 2024 POAP to share with folks that I see there. If you are at the event say Hi and I’ll give you a claim code! 🤝

    Bitcoin passed 1 billion total all-time transactions tonight! Currently at 1,000,196,488. 👏

    We just passed the Bitcoin halving and are now in Epoch V! What an incredible journey so far. I found Bitcoin interesting in 2014. I ultimately experimented with it but didn’t see the utility. I ignored it for years. Then played with it from time to time. I think it is likely that Bitcoin is the foundation of an entire crypto ecosystem that will grow in importance over decades.

    See my blog posts mentioning bitcoin. Screenshot is from Timechain Calendar.

    Today Bitcoin finally broke through the $70,000 resistance it had been bouncing off of for days now and immediately jumped past setting a new all-time high. Ethereum had also been bouncing against $4,000 resistance and went through that. The run-up in price over recent weeks is wild.

    Today Gnosis Chain activated the Dencun upgrade before Ethereum. I run a validator on Gnosis and POAP tokens are also issued on Gnosis. Gnosis vision of a multi-chain Ethereum ecosystem makes sense to me.

    Bitcoin near or at new all-time highs today.

    How I burned $10,000

    Meme coins are one of the parts of the crypto ecosystem that I have no interest in. They are pure speculation. I’m fine if folks want to do that, but it’s not my thing. I’ve never owned any Dogecoin. A little over a year ago when BONK launched as a Solana version of Dogecoin I didn’t pay any attention. 🪙

    I received alerts of incoming transfers of BONK tokens into my Solana wallet. It turns out as an owner of Famous Fox NFTs I received special airdrops of BONK tokens. A lot actually. I was annoyed by the clutter and without thinking much about it burned 394,305,096 Bonk tokens that were cluttering up my wallet. 🔥

    Well, as it turns out BONK has traded actively. My nearly 400M burned tokens were worth as little as $70 at the 1-year low of $0.0000001763… and $10,000 at current price the current price of $0.00002536. 😳

    I guess “easy come, easy go” as they say. On the bright side I don’t have to bother with the tax treatment of the air drop. 🤷‍♂️

    Posting this on leap day means I’ll only revisit this mistake once every four years in my On This Day page.

    ENS: Blockchain Native Organization

    The section from the ENS DAO February 13th update impressed me.

    In January 2024, the ENS Protocol registered 39.8k new .eth domains, bringing the total to 2.1 million. The protocol generated revenue of $1.3 million during this period, all of which was allocated to the ENS DAO. The number of Ethereum account holders with at least one ENS name increased by 33.9k, totaling 818k. There were 31.7k primary ENS names set, making the overall count 737k. Additionally, 8k new avatar records were created, reaching a cumulative total of 149k.

    Ethereum Name Service is doing an amazing job showing how a crypto service can work. This is a $15.6M run rate driven completely off the protocol. That all goes into the DAO with a robust governance structure. As an ENS token holder I can vote in the DAO, or delegate to others.

    They are creating the blueprint for how you can create a blockchain native organization.

    I wanted to celebrate getting my Apple Vision Pro and what better way than with a POAP! I’m sharing this POAP with anyone that demos it with me and experiences Spatial Computing — likely for the first time! I’m attaching POAP Moments to this event, and see on POAP Family.

    The #TeamSPS tech team gave out this “I Stopped by the Tech Lab at SKO POAP” in the Product Partner Fair at Sales Kickoff 2024. We continue to have fun with POAP.

    Interview with 612 Series creator Erik Halaas

    In October 2022 I found the 612 Series by Erik Halaas. This NFT collection resonated with me as a Minneapolis resident. I knew nearly all the landmarks and had fond memories of many of them. I decided to purchase five of them, which turned out to just be the start. I also shared the collection with others and even sent one as a gift. Eventually I acquired a complete set of the landmarks and got to know Erik, the creator of the 612 Series and StayNftyMpls. Erik even agreed to donate a collection for Minnestar to give away in a POAP drawing at Minnebar 17.

    I had some questions about the 612 Series so I asked Erik if he would be up to do an interview to dive a little deeper. He was happy to, so here we go!

    Q: What was your inspiration to create the 612 Series?

    A close friend of mine extended a loose invitation to an art opening in NYC in the fall of 2021. Being cooped up in the midst of the pandemic, I was itching for an adventure and didn’t need much of an excuse to hit the road. I loosely heard of art “on-chain” and the growing energy around NFTs but knew nothing of the artist, Jeff Davis co-founder and Chief Creative Officer at Art Blocks, or the folks orchestrating the show, Bright Moments a DAO curating, promoting, and producing unforgettable physical showcases centered on creating art live, on-chain, in real life.

    NYC would be the 2nd stop on their 10 city journey around the world, an effort to build a thriving community of “CryptoCitizens.” At face value, it was a growing collection of simple and silly pixelated characters but there was something more there. Folks were having powerful shared experiences in person (this meant a lot in 2021), being exposed to seasoned and often unsung artists, and learning together by exploring uncharted territory (e.g. crypto, NFTs, generative art).

    Long story short, I left NYC with a strong desire to replicate this energy back home — to dust off my long-dormant creativity quelled by kids and full-time work; to build community with fellow creatives, curators, and collectors; to explore this new world of digital art, NFTs, and the value of content on-chain; but to do it in a way that was specific to my home, Minneapolis. As we waited for the plane, we were talking about the immense pride folks have in the city of Minneapolis and how we might capture it. We joked about “the 612” and something clicked…

    What if I made 612 Minneapolis characters? Unique snapshots? Landmarks? What if we leaned into the pixelated energy of the era and confined the creation of each landmark to only being 612 pixels?!

    The project was born from there.

    Q: How did you pick the landmarks to include? Do you have a favorite?

    The first was the Witches Tower — a favorite landmark from my childhood growing up in Prospect Park and one of the most beloved block prints I created years ago. I had played around with a pixelated version of the tower before the NYC happenings. With all that in mind, it is probably one of my favorite 612 Series landmarks.

    From the Tower, the landmarks were essentially pulled from personal or shared Minneapolis memories. The city skyline, favorite parks or lakes, iconic bridges, memorable events, concerts, or shows. Whether historic Minneapolis landmarks or simply places I had visited and revisited with family and friends at various points throughout my life, these were all places etched in my memory as representative of home. I thought about crowdsourcing folks for key landmarks but the following for the project just wasn’t there.

    A couple of fun notes…

    • There are a few of my son’s pieces mixed into the series titled “Little Man Specials.” This was a nod to those parents out there fighting to keep the creative spirit alive. He was captivated by the project and inspired to start plugging away on his own versions.
    • I also had some heavy hitters that didn’t quite make the cut… Matt’s, CC Club, Electric Fetus. I can’t remember why exactly they weren’t included. I felt a sense of pressure to get the work out there and be one of the first Minneapolis inspired collections on-chain.
    • While there was beauty in the limitations of the 612 pixels, there were also some challenges in getting the landmark at the right scale / perspective.

    Either way… there are definitely some could’a, should’a, would’a landmarks out there.

    612 Series Landmarks: Minneapolis Institute of Art, Guthrie Theatre, Lowry Ave Bridge, Stone Arch Bridge, The Walker, Witches Tower, Cherry and Spoon, I-35W Bridge, Hennepin Ave Bridge, Lake Harriet, Lake of the Isles, Minnehaha Falls, Basilica of Saint Mary, Bde Maka Ska, Lake Hiawatha, Lake Nokomis, Washington Avenue Bridge, Martin Olav Sabo Bridge, Campbell Mithun Tower, First Ave, Capella Tower, Foshay Tower, Gold Medal Building, Goldy Gopher, Grain Belt Sign, IDS Tower, Midtown Global Market, Northrup Chair, Riverside Plaza, Target Headquarters, Wells Fargo Center, Al’s Breakfast, and The Kid’s House from Purple Rain.

    Q: What software and tools did you use to create the series?

    Funny enough, the work was all created in Excel. As someone who has traditionally worked with relief block printing as a creative outlet the switch to digital was a stretch and, thanks to work, Excel offered a familiar toolkit. I had also heard of other artists using excel for their work — be it code-based generative art or simply documenting cross-stitch patterns.

    I decided to put the project on the Ethereum blockchain because it was something I was familiar with given Bright Moments and ArtBlocks use, and OpenSea, which operates on Ethereum, was growing in popularity at the time, offered a no-code entryway to the market, and supported “lazy minting” which allowed me to put the collection up at no cost by deferring the gas fees associated with minting the piece to the buyer (“minting” is the process of officially writing the piece onto the blockchain).

    Q: What plans or ideas do you have to bring the 612 Series beyond pixels? You’ve done some paintings?

    I worked with a group of folks a little over a year ago to explore the interplay between digital and physical work. We hosted a dozen local creatives, half of which had a presence on-chain and the other half with no experience with NFTs, crypto, web3, whatsoever. The end result was a curated experience weaving traditional 2D and 3D mediums in with a variety of tech forward, digitally inspired content at the Hewing Hotel gallery. You can learn about the artists and get a flashback via this collection of Instagram Stories. It was a blast!

    To highlight the 612 Series, I shared the initial relief block print of the Witches Tower that inspired the imagery for the series alongside an Infinite Object frame displaying a variety of the 612 Series Witches Tower NFTs. The show actually motivated me to revisit the original block printing method but reimagine the landmark in its pixelated form. I have gone on to create a few more of the landmarks in both the original and pixelated block print form (including one for you!) and would love to continue exploring how the pieces can be reimagined in the physical.

    Q: If you fast forward a decade how would you like the 612 Series to be thought of?

    I took great pride in being the first Minneapolis-centric NFT collection. Part of the importance of that to me was experimenting with blockchain technology and the capacity to track the work over time. Putting the pieces on chain memorialized this moment of creative inspiration and will allow me to track how interest and engagement with the collection grows, changes hands, ebbs and flows, is valued, etc. I know, for example, the exact moment that first piece moved and will know if, when, and loosely to whom that piece is handed off to down the line.

    I would love to see this added narrative behind the original work build beyond simply documenting transactions — perhaps a way for holders to document and share the stories, memories, experiences that connected them to each of the landmarks they own. There was some of that starting to take place on social media.

    Ultimately, these softer social interactions were the real impetus behind the project: to build community and spark creativity. This has been realized through “in real life” experiences like the show at the Hewing Hotel, collaborations with you at Minnebar 2023, connections with MN Blockchain, and so on.

    My hope is that the project will continue to inspire local folks with a shared interest in the arts, technology, and community to connect, collaborate, and create locally!


    A big thank you to Erik for creating this series and for sharing more about it. I wonder if we will ever see a 2nd collection of the 612 Series with a new set of landmarks? Or maybe some ability to work with Erik and create a special 1 of 1 for a set of unique landmarks in the 612 Series. How cool would it be in fifty years to see bronze plaques setup at the various landmarks highlighting these early NFTs that commemorate that spot.

    Want to own a piece of this collection? There are still many 612 Series collectibles available to buy! 🛍️

    To connect with Erik you can find @ErikHalaas on X, his LinkedIn profile, or via StayNftyMpls.

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