Finally, someone's been combing the blockchain and calling out scammers on their BS. In doing so, software engineer Molly White managed to not only catalyse the downfall of the Cryptoland scams, but generally spread awareness about the dangers of 'Web3,' so scammers are less likely to indoctrinate more impressionable, would-be investors.
White is an avid Wikipedia contributor who's passionate about free and open knowledge and resources. The Byte pointed us to her blog, the awesome, satirically named 'Web3 is going just great.' In it, she highlights the missteps, hacks, and dodgy work arising from Web3—a blockchain dominated 'new internet' for anyone unaware.
In fact, it's White who's been attributed to aiding in the downfall of the disturbing case of Cryptoland—the "world's first crypto island" marketed as a utopia for blockchain investors. The project poured millions into going physical but now appears to be inactive after a whole expose from White that caused a bunch of investors to jump ship. The Seychelles island they planned to take over is even back on the market.
If you've a level of sympathy for the poor cryptodegens, remember: this is the same scam that when pressed on Twitter about what the age of consent would be on their magical blockchain island, the official Cryptoland account replied with "Mental maturity should be more than enough! ;)"
Sickening. Good riddance.
"Most of my disdain is reserved for the big players who are marketing this to a mainstream audience as though it’s an investment, often promising to be a ticket out of a really tough financial spot for people who don’t have many options," says White.
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White describes their actions as "very predatory," and she's gained a lot of media attention for calling these blockchain scams out.
We've seen the marketplace halting transactions due to rampant NFT counterfeiting, and so many other stories that show the possible horrors of investing in the blockchain. And yet all this is amazingly still so prevalent. Even during the current cryptocurrency crash, crypto mining energy usage has barely dropped.
With people like White around, at least, more of these blockchain scams might start to deteriorate.
Her site even contains a 'Grift Counter' that keeps a tally of how much money has been lost to scams so far as you scroll down the timeline, so you can keep monetary tabs on the crypto-dystopia we're creating for ourselves. Check it out if you fancy a cry.
