๐๐ซ๐ฒ๐ฉ๐ญ๐จ ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฎ๐ฅ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐จ๐๐ฃ๐๐ค๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ฐ๐๐ข๐ญ ๐ฏ๐จ๐ง ๐๐๐ซ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ก๐ค๐๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐๐ซ๐ง๐ญ!
Or: The odyssey to my first NFT
The days crypto frustrated me and made me despair. These experiences have shown me once again how awkward crypto is to "operate", how well you need to know to be able to move reasonably safely in this area and how much work still needs to be invested so that crypto can also be used by a large part of the population and not just remain on some central exchanges as a speculative object. But first things first ...
๐๐๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ซ๐ญ?
It actually started back in 2014, when 850,000 Bitcoin were stolen from the world's largest crypto exchange Mt.Gox - including some of mine. A fraction of the deposits is supposed to be paid back at some point, but so far it is still unclear when that will happen and how high this fraction will be. The then head of Mt.Gox, Mark Karpelรจs, has now announced a few days ago that all Mt.Gox customers between 2010 and 2014 can receive an NFT, which identifies the holder as an early adopter in cryptospace, so to speak [1]. The NFT contains the time of registration with Mt.Gox, the last balance (in yen and BTC), and the trading volume. Such an NFT can of course be sold or generate "rewards" via airdrops at a later date (or simply be completely worthless). In any case, you don't look a gift horse in the mouth, as they say here. So bring on the NFT!
๐๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฆ ๐: ๐๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ฎ๐๐ง
In order to confirm that one was indeed a Mt.Gox customer between 2010 and 2014, one must provide some form of identification / verification. For example old screenshots, communication with Mt.Gox support or similar are necessary. Every halfway paranoid crypto user then naturally asks himself: What happens with this data? Are they really only used to create my NFT? Or is it a scam with the goal of getting my data and using it to take over my old Mt.Gox account - along with a possible refund that could probably reach me sometime in 2050? Some guy on the Internet, who happens to have access to a Twitter account of one Mark Karpelรจs, offers to generate an NFT for me. All I have to do is give him some personal data. Sounds fair ...
Out of curiosity I registered on the Mt.Gox NFT page [2] with a throwaway email. Lo and behold, to confirm my identity as a former Mt.Gox customer it seems to be enough to still have access to the old mail address I used to register with Mt.Gox back then. Fortunately, I still have it. Let's give it a try then.
Granted: This is a very specific case. However, it can be applied to more common problems. In a decentralized world without a "trusted" entity, you have to think carefully about who you trust. Are the developers of this wallet trustworthy? Are the issuers of this token trustworthy? Is this crypto wallet trustworthy? Is the talking moose on this website that wants my credit card details trustworthy? In case of doubt, you have to deal with the different topics very intensively. Many people certainly can't do that, and those who theoretically could, often don't feel like it. The result is that services are not used or are used carelessly, which prevents opportunities and creates risks.
๐๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฆ ๐: ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐ ๐ ๐๐ซ๐ฒ๐ฉ๐ญ๐จ๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐๐ญ๐๐ง๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฌ
So, how do I get my NFT now? The Mt.Gox NFT page says that I need to provide my polygon address to get the NFT. It would still be important that the address can receive ERC721 tokens. Okay, never used polygon before. Are there any polygon addresses that can't receive ERC721 tokens? And will my NFT become worthless should Polygon cease to exist in 1-10 years if necessary? Does my NFT have any value at all? Questions upon questions. Fortunately the website offers a FAQ. It says that I can / should use Polygon directly on the Polygon website or via MetaMask. So anything I have to install / use on an untrusted device (my laptop). Sounds uncool. So I unpacked my Ledger Hardware Wallet and lo and behold, there is Polygon support there too. So I generated a new Polygon address via my hardware wallet and then made it available to Mt.Gox-NFT.
But now my Ledger Live app (which lets me interact with Polygon and other crypto networks without third-party software like MetaMask) tells me that only MATIC or ERC20 tokens can be sent to this Polygon address. Mt.Gox-NFT, however, says that it is an ERC721 token. Which brings me back to the question of whether all polygon addresses support ERC721 or if there are differences?!
Unfortunately, it is increasingly difficult to keep up with all the developments, possibilities and "standards" in the crypto universe. In the worst case - like here - I have to deal with a network that is completely new to me in order to use a service.
๐๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฆ ๐: ๐๐๐ซ๐ฅรค๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ง๐๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐๐ง
I suspect that any polygon address can also receive ERC721 tokens, but may not be able to display them with Ledger Live. So I google and find an article from Ledger on this topic [3]. At the bottom I find a small table. It says "Polygon supports ERC20 and ERC721 token". Great. However, further down in the table, the question about "What coins and tokens can I keep in my ledger account?" is answered with "MATIC and ERC20". Does "keep" here mean that the ERC721 tokens I send to my ledger disappear into nirvana, or that I simply can't see them in the Ledger Live app but can still - via other software - access them? I have no idea ...
There is no regluation, there is no central trusted authority. I have to gather all the information myself in the crypto world and hope that I don't fall for anyone or catch outdated information in the process.
๐๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฆ ๐: ๐๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ฎ๐๐ง (๐ง๐จ๐๐ก๐ฆ๐๐ฅ)
Alternatively, I could connect my hardware wallet to MetaMask. MetaMask is after all explicitly marked as supported by Mt.Gox-NFT. I have never used MetaMask, but it should be no problem now. Since my hardware wallet is not compatible with mobile apps, I decide to use the browser extension. When installing this extension, the warning message pops up "MetaMask is allowed to read and modify all my data on all websites, show notifications and modify data I copy and paste - do I still want to install the extension?". Dafaq? MetaMask reads everything I type on all websites and is allowed to change my data (oops, accidentally exchanged amount and IBAN at online banking, but something like that)? Uh no ... certainly not.
Well, now you've put so much effort into it and MetaMask is quite well known. They won't mean you any harm. Install the extension for Edge instead of the Chrome extension. You never use it anyway. MetaMask can then read along and exchange data as it wants. So the Edge finally gets its raison d'รชtre.
๐๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฆ ๐: ๐๐๐ง๐ฎ๐ญ๐ณ๐๐ซ๐๐ซ๐๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ก๐ค๐๐ข๐ญ
After installation, MetaMask offers me to import a wallet or create a new wallet. I tried both options. If I create a new wallet, I am supposed to set a password. If I want to import one, I have to manually enter my seed and set a password. No indication of a way to connect to my Ledger hardware wallet. So again Google endeavors. I guess I have to create a new MetaMask Wallet and then I can link my Ledger [4]. AdaLite did it differently. Anyway. So created a new wallet and clicked the "Connect to Ledger" button. I am prompted by MetaMask to select an account. In doing so, I can choose between three options in a dropdown field (no idea what any of those are) and am shown 5 addresses for each (no idea which ones they are). All seem to be ETH addresses. With "next / back" I can scroll through these addresses in steps of 5 (which takes a few seconds each time). I don't know if I'm looking in the right place or what else I have to do, but I'm just slowly clicking through ...
After a few minutes of clicking, I give up. There must be another way to do this? So I googled again and realized that I have to set up Polygon in MetaMask first. For this I searched and found a tutorial [5] ... My face is this annoying. I just imagine most of my circle of friends desperately trying to use crypto. Unfortunately, even after configuring Polygon, my hardware wallet still only shows me ETH addresses when I connect. There is no trace of Polygon.
As I find out after further research, I guess I just have to select any ETH address in this endless list of ETH addresses to be able to use Polygon via MetaMask and my hardware wallet [6]. I am skeptical but try my luck. Something happens. I get a Polygon ledger account displayed in MetaMask. Whether this is the one I previously set up in the Ledger Live app or a new one .... I don't know. I'm also confused at first because I can't find a "Deposit" button or anything like that in MetaMask. I wanted now but actually only generate / query my address so that I can enter the at Mt.Gox-NFT. I then notice a letter and number combination slightly grayed out at the top of MetaMask. This has a "copy" icon and is not displayed in its entirety. This could theoretically be the address I'm looking for. I switch back to my Ledger hardware wallet and match the addresses. Hit, they match.
I recently had the privilege of accompanying a couple of users on a professional basis as they used a new piece of software for the first time. The software was largely self-explanatory, the users knew the previous version (so they were not new to the topic), were trained in advance, had a few months to try out the software and could ask questions in advance. Nevertheless, many users were simply unsure whether they were pressing the right button or not. Such users are the broad mass and not an exception. Every single one of these users would have quit a long time ago, despaired or made mistakes and thus sent the NFT into nirvana. If crypto does not become more user-friendly, it will remain a toy for nerds and an object of speculation.
๐๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฆ ๐: ๐ ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง
I wonder if this is how it all works now. I don't know. Whether I should initiate a test transaction? Probably. Whether my address can receive ERC721 tokens since the MetaMask address is identical to the Ledger live address? Maybe. But I'm too annoyed, "just" copy my polygon address into the associated form at Mt.Gox-NFT and wait to see what happens. Mt.Gox-NFT accepts my input, I confirm my identity with a code I got sent to my old mail address and wait for feedback by the "Mt.Gox-NFT team", the scammer or Mark himself - no idea who is doing what now. After all, I should have my NFT in less than 24 hours.
๐๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฆ ๐: ๐๐๐ญ๐ซ๐ฎ๐
After almost 24h later I still couldn't discover any NFT in my wallet and even googling didn't get me anywhere, I decided to ask on Reddit. I didn't get any answers, but a lot of DMs from scammers. Unfortunately, this is a common scam when you identify yourself as a supposed crypto N00b in the vastness of the internet.
๐๐ฎ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ก๐๐ฅ๐ญ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ก ๐๐ข๐ง๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐ข๐ง ๐๐๐๐ค ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐ก๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ญ๐๐ญ๐ฌรค๐๐ก๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ก ๐ค๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ก๐ง๐ฎ๐ง๐ !
Certainly, you never stop learning. However, I would definitely consider myself one of the more affine jackasses. I have an education in IT and a bachelor's / master's degree in computer science. In addition, meanwhile about 15 years of professional experience in software development including related disciplines (education not included). I bought my first Bitcoin in 2011. In 2013 I mined Bitcoin myself in a mining pool. In 2014, I bought my first altcoin. Then in 2017, I got myself a hardware wallet and participated in my first ICO (Initial Coin Offering, the equivalent of an IPO) with some Ether. So I definitely bring experience to the table. Still, the process was just cumbersome, ambiguous, and created uncertainty in many places. For the majority of people, it should simply be an impossibility to handle crypto in the current state of development. This also applies to simpler tasks than the one in the story I described.
๐ ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ญ & ๐๐ง๐๐
Instead of throwing the next 1,000 cryptocurrencies on the market, the community would be better off focusing on developing well-functioning, clear, self-explanatory, and user-friendly software. Without that, there will be no mass adoption. But most cryptocurrency developers and buyers are not interested in mass adoption and practical use. The goal is solely to make a lot of money in a short time. That's a shame. Because crypto can do so much more.
In the meantime, I have received my NFT. After I found out that I have to connect my Ledger hardware wallet with MetaMask and MetaMask with OpenSea to display it, I am also reasonably confident that I can dispose of this NFT in some form. No idea if the NFT will somehow and sometime make up for the workload created. After all, I think it's unlikely that any sensitive data of mine was stolen in the process.
If you want to see how such a NFT looks like (spoiler: no picture, just data) and how much these current ones are traded for, you can have a look at opensea: https://opensea.io/collection/mtgoxnft-net
Sources & Links
[1] https://twitter.com/MagicalTux/status/1508398473812787201
[2] https://www.mtgoxnft.net/l/en-US/
[4] https://www.ledger.com/academy/security/the-safest-way-to-use-metamask
[5] https://docs.polygon.technology/docs/develop/metamask/config-polygon-on-metamask/
