Michael Blau @blauyourmind Twitter profile

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

1 year

Magic tricks are zero-knowledge proofs. And zero-knowledge proofs are indistinguishable from magic. 🪄 Learn more:

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

gm, I built a tool to help people detect metamorphic smart contracts. What’s a metamorphic smart contract? Why is detecting them important? And how does the tool work? A thread 🧵

A Tool for Detecting Metamorphic Smart Contracts - a16z crypto

I built a tool to help detect and defend against "metamorphic smart contracts," mutable blockchain code that poses a risk to web3 users.

a16zcrypto.com

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

3 years

Welcome #2573 . Thank you @3LAU for the best birthday gift. Love you bro ❤️

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

Announcing Proof of Merge: a fully on-chain, non-transferable, and dynamic NFT that will change throughout The Merge:

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

3 years

What is an NFT? Here is the high-level architecture:

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

3 years

So excited to join @a16z crypto and learn from @AriannaSimpson @alive_eth @cdixon @katie_haun and the rest of the team. wagmi.

AriannaSimpson.eth

@AriannaSimpson

3 years

Today I’m thrilled to welcome a new member to the a16z crypto investment team: @blauyourmind ! Thread: 👇🏼 🧵

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

3 years

I'm addicted to crypto

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

Big idea for 2023: Non-Transferable Tokens

A few of the things we’re excited about in crypto (2023) - a16z crypto

We share a list of things in crypto that are exciting partners and investors including the blockchain mobile movements and develop zero knowledge onboarding.

a16zcrypto.com

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

Reminder to mint your Proof of Merge NFT before the Merge! An NFT @0xMasonH and I created! * Free * 100% On-Chain * Non-Transferable * Dynamic Learn more here :)

‘Proof-of-Merge’ NFT to Commemorate Ethereum - a16z crypto

Until the Ethereum Merge happens, anyone can mint this non-transferable “proof-of-merge” dynamic art NFT for free (plus the cost of gas).

a16zcrypto.com

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

Proof of Merge Phase 3 is complete! The Merge is complete! 42.5 K Proof of Merge NFTs were minted. Thank you so much to everyone who minted to be a part of this historic event ☯️

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

3 years

Building a @FortaProtocol Agent to detect NFT Sleep Minting 🧵

The Art of the Prank: How a Hacker Tried to Fake the World's Most Expensive NFT

Someone is trying to prove that despite all the media frenzy about NFTs, they’re not as unique or secure as people think.

www.coindesk.com

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

3 years

What is the best way to explain the crypto ecosystem to someone new? I like to think of crypto as an arcade.

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

Had a blast discussing everything and anything about NFTs with @nassyweazy and @smc90 on the web3 with @a16z podcast!!! Listen here

Securing and Evolving NFTs

Episode · web3 with a16z crypto · with @x0rart / @blauyourmind, @nassyweazy, @smc90Building “usable” security will be critical as NFTs scale across applications and mediums — including “dynamic NFTs”...

open.spotify.com

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

Mint and own an NFT that will forever prove you were here during The Merge :)

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

My colleague @0xMasonH and I decided to create an experimental NFT that changes as The Merge happens. The NFT has 3 phases: 1. Two separate circles 2. Half merged circles 3. Post-merge Yin-Yang

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

I’m so incredibly excited to announce our investment in @dynamic_xyz . 🧵

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

1 year

👀🪄

a16z crypto

@a16zcrypto

1 year

♠️ ♥️ ♣️ ♦️ 🪄 @blauyourmind

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

Metamorphic contracts are mutable, meaning developers can change the code inside them. This poses a serious risk to web3 users who put their trust in code which they expect to run with absolute consistency. HT to @z0age for his amazing write-up here

The Promise and the Peril of Metamorphic Contracts

If you know anything about smart contracts on Ethereum, you know that they’re immutable — once the bytecode has been deployed, it stays…

0age.medium.com

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

3 years

Watch as my big brother @3LAU changes the world. Everyone @join_royal !!!

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

Proof of Merge is in Phase 2! Remember to mint yours before the Merge!

Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

Announcing Proof of Merge: a fully on-chain, non-transferable, and dynamic NFT that will change throughout The Merge:

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

You can find the source code for the tool and some example smart contracts here

GitHub - a16z/metamorphic-contract-detector

Contribute to a16z/metamorphic-contract-detector development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

A critical Ethereum security assumption is that smart contract code is immutable and therefore cannot be changed once it is deployed on-chain. In practice, some smart contracts can change – even after they’ve been deployed!

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

3 years

brother apes. @3LAU

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

The NFT is free to mint (plus gas), non-transferable, and unlimited supply. Everyone can mint 1 NFT before The Merge happens.

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

I want to give a HUGE shoutout and thank you to @rhhackett , @eddylazzarin , @samrags_ , @riyazdf , @NoahCitron , @0xMasonH , and @daejunpark for valuable feedback in making this tool come to life :)

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

Honored to collaborate with @milesjennings and @0xMasonH to create a way to reference NFT licenses on-chain!

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

The NFT artwork will switch to phase two on September 14th. We detect The Merge on-chain by checking if the DIFFICULTY opcode returns 0 according to EIP3675.

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

You can find instructions for how to incorporate this into your next project here

GitHub - a16z/a16z-contracts: a16z Contracts is a library for solidity contracts, including licenses

a16z Contracts is a library for solidity contracts, including licenses - a16z/a16z-contracts

github.com

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

You can imagine an attacker using the technique to “rug” people who are staking tokens in a smart contract they don’t realize is metamorphic. Luckily, by understanding what makes metamorphic contracts possible, you can detect them.

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

You need 3 smart contracts in total to pull off the metamorphism trick: A “Factory” (1) that deploys an Implementation Contract (2) which hosts code destined for the Metamorphic Contract (3). Here’s how the parts interact.

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

3 years

👀👀👀

Todd Goldberg

@toddg777

3 years

Found this in my wallet... Looks rare. Minted on @manifoldxyz too! 🙏 @blauyourmind ( @x0rart )

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

11 months

digi 🤝 fizzy

IYK

@iyk_app

11 months

We raised a $16.8M seed round led by @a16zcrypto . Our next step? Launch IYK Platform to bring more creators into the wwworld ✶ of digi-physical.

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

LFG!! Thrilled to partner with founders buidling on the cutting edge of the internet 🦾

AriannaSimpson.eth

@AriannaSimpson

2 years

Today we are announcing a16z crypto Fund 4. We’ve raised $4.5B to invest in promising web3 founders and startups, bringing our total crypto funds raised to more than $7.6B. 💪

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

My tool looks for 6 indicators of metamorphism in a contract: 1. Was it deployed with metamorphic bytecode? 2. Can it self-destruct? 3. Does it contain DELEGATECALLs? 4. Was it deployed by another contract? 5. Does the deployer contract contain CREATE2? 6. Did the code change?

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

I'm soooooo excited for this. TIME TO BUIDL!!!! 🦾🦾🦾

Ali Yahya | alive.eth

@alive_eth

2 years

Today, we're announcing the creation of @a16z crypto research 💥 Research labs like DeepMind and OpenAI have elevated the field of AI to new heights. We are setting out to do the same for crypto and web3 👇

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

🫡🫡

a16z crypto

@a16zcrypto

2 years

Today we’re thrilled to announce the launch of our new accelerator, Crypto Startup School. The program will include: Investment from @a16zcrypto ($500k) Mentorship from leading founders Advice from domain experts Network of fellow builders Apply:

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

And huge shoutout to @zachmeyer_ for the incredible front end 🦾🦾

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

So excited to work with the @alongsidefi team 🦾🔥

Ali Yahya | alive.eth

@alive_eth

2 years

Today, we are very excited to share that @a16zcrypto is leading @alongsidefi ’s $11M seed round! 🔥 Alongside is building products that make crypto investing simpler and more accessible for anyone.

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

One way to create a metamorphic contract involves using the CREATE2 opcode to deploy this specific metamorphic bytecode created by @z0age , depicted below. (Yes, my tool scans for this specific code.)

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

Wow thank you so much @FortaNetwork !! Truly Honored ❤️

Forta 🏰

@FortaNetwork

2 years

🏆 Announcing Forta’s Bot of the Year Awards! #fortaversary The Most Innovative Bot Award goes to @blauyourmind from @a16z for his creative NFT sleep minting bot! 🤖

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

1 year

👀

a16z crypto

@a16zcrypto

1 year

Think of ZKPs like a great magic trick. Check out the demo below, and read on for an overview of the defining properties (scalability and privacy) of ZKPs – and how all of this plays out using magic. @blauyourmind :

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

My Metamorphic Contract Detector builds on the work of @z0age & @jasoncarver . Consider it just a first step in an analysis of whether a smart contract contains metamorphic properties.

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

CREATE2 ensures the Metamorphic Contract always deploys to the same predetermined blockchain address. The metamorphic bytecode can replace itself with any arbitrary code by copying code from another contract address, in this case, the Implementation Contract.

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

1 year

Voyage to the Moon. NFT NYC 2023 Scavenger Hunt I created in collab with @iyk_app

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

The detector isn’t foolproof. It won’t catch everything, and many of the flags can result in false positives. Still, the tool provides valuable information. It can raise suspicions and provide a reason to scrutinize a contract further.

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

3 years

@katie_haun @join_royal @3LAU @Opendoor @justindross Growing the blau x @a16z family ❤️

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

My blog post walks through the process in detail. The upshot is a developer can self-destruct the Metamorphic Contract, repeat the steps involved with new implementation code, and thereby replace the code inside the Metamorphic Contract with anything they desire.

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

@0xMasonH Massive shoutout to @rhhackett for helping put together this blog post <3

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

3 years

Thanks to @FortaProtocol , I built an agent that helps detect potential NFT Sleep Minting. You can see a live monitor of my agent here!

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

Finally! I have used the Dynamic SDK for a few projects. It is the best! I can't recommend it enough 💪💪💪

Dynamic

@dynamic_xyz

2 years

🚀LET'S GET ROLLING! 🚀 📣We're excited to announce our public beta! 🎉 Starting today, Dynamic is open to everyone (hint hint - those with and without wallets 😉) 📹 We have a lot to cover - let's start with a quick video sneak peek (sound on! 🔊)

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

Thank you, @milesjennings , for this MAJOR contribution to NFTs. It was an honor helping with the smart contract components 🫡

miles jennings

@milesjennings

2 years

1/ Today we’re thrilled to be launching a slate of open sourced “Can’t be Evil” NFT licenses. These licenses are designed specifically for NFTs and were inspired by 20-plus years of work by the Creative Commons.

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

No words can describe how excited I am to work with @arpeggi_labs and watch as they build on the cutting edge of music.

Arpeggi Labs

@arpeggi_labs

2 years

1/ We started Arpeggi Labs to create a better way to make music. Today, we are proud to announce a $5.1M seed round for open-source music creation led by @a16z . Here’s what you need to know ⬇️🧵

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

3 years

Welcome to the fam 4855

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

1 year

@andrewjiang @a16zcrypto They hired a magician :) I have been performing magic for many years :)

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

Nothing better than coming home to swag! Thanks, @FortaNetwork , and @join_royal 🦾😎

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

1 year

👇👇👇

Jason Rosenthal

@jasonrosenthal

1 year

1/ We’ve got some exciting news to share! Applications for Crypto Startup School (CSS) Spring 2024 in London are now OPEN! Ready to fast-track your crypto startup journey? Apply here: Learn more👇

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

3 years

How does this work technically? ERC-721 Transfer Event logs! My a16z Crypto colleague @DarenMatsuoka wrote a great thread about them :)

Daren Matsuoka

@DarenMatsuoka

3 years

Event logs are one of the most important sources of historical data on Ethereum. Learning how they are structured, and how to access them, is critical for anyone who wants to analyze smart contract interactions. Here’s what I’ve learned. 🧵👇

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

1 year

Voyage to the Moon NFT NYC Scavenger Hunt is still live with @iyk_app ! Solve the riddles below, tap NFC tags, and evolve your NFT :)

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

3 years

ɯƃ

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

magic

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

3 years

...or you could find the hidden message in this thread and just tell people that. Comment below when you find it :)

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

3 years

gm

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

3 years

gn

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

👀👀

Tim Roughgarden

@Tim_Roughgarden

2 years

At @a16zcrypto research, we're looking for interns for summer '23! Our lab is an amazing environment both for fundamental research and for close collaborations with the best web3 startups. Learn more and apply here (ideally by Nov 15):

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

3 years

01100111 01101101

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

For a more detailed explanation, see the full blog 👇

Identifying Authentic NFTs (Especially Against Attackers)

What's sleep minting? A quick introduction, plus a new open source agent that helps detect (and alert to) potential NFT sleep minting.

a16zcrypto.com

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

3 years

So excited to work with you @sriramk !!!

Sriram Krishnan - sriramk.eth

@sriramk

3 years

Been loving learning from all the amazing coders/engineers/researchers here at a16z crypto. strongly recommend following 👉 @eddylazzarin 👉 @samrags_ 👉 @nassyweazy 👉 @riyazdf 👉 @blauyourmind 👉 @_PorterSmith 👉 @DarenMatsuoka 👉 @0xMasonH 👉 @mg_486662

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

Finally, if you want to check out the agent code, it's here:

GitHub - a16z/nft-sleep-mint-forta-agent

Contribute to a16z/nft-sleep-mint-forta-agent development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

Maybe @VitalikButerin would mint 🫣

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

3 years

wagbi 📜

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

3 years

It’s a ZK kind of night

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

Highly recommend checking these videos out of you want a deeper understanding of PoS !!!

Valeria Nikolaenko

@lera_banda

2 years

Proof-of-stake (PoS) is a captivating area of research. It’s been great to get a chance to show you a snapshot of it with a16z crypto research team: Talk #1 Talk #2

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

3 years

To sleep, or not to sleep, that is the question

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

3 years

@EVirtualMachine @a16z 01010111 01100101 01101100 01100011 01101111 01101101 01100101 00100001

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

How are magic and crypto connected? A classic of magic is giving someone an envelope as a prediction, asking them to name a playing card, then opening the envelope to show you accurately predicted the named card. Basically…I have been using hash commitments for years.

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

3 years

ɯƃ

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

3 years

@3LAU @BoredApeYC that you got me gm gn

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

You no longer need to integrate with every wallet in the ecosystem manually. Dynamic takes care of that for you and allows MetaMask, Phantom, Coinbase Wallet, etc., to connect to your dApp out of the box with a clean wallet selection UI/UX.

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

Huge congrats @eddylazzarin !!!!

cdixon.eth

@cdixon

2 years

It takes a special intellect to stand out among crypto technologists, and we’re fortunate to have one of those people on our team. I’m happy to share that @eddylazzarin has been promoted to Chief Technology Officer for @a16zcrypto .

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

NFTs 🤝 EIP-1559

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

4 years

Top 3 Finance Resources: 1. Finance News: Money Stuff by @matt_levine 2. Options and Futures: @tastytrade 3. Just follow @kerberos007

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

3 years

gmi

3LAU

@3LAU

3 years

If you’re an artist experimenting with web3 & tokenization today… You’re shaping the future for the next generation of creatives & empowering them to succeed 💎

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

And read the original blog by @milesjennings to understand the different NFT license options!!!

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

Diggy Fizzy for sure

a16z crypto

@a16zcrypto

2 years

NFTs that create a digital representation of a physical item. Should this category be called “Phygital” or “Diggy Fizzy”? 💭

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

3 years

probably nothing

New New York Times

@NYT_first_said

3 years

tokenomics

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

👇👇👇

a16z crypto

@a16zcrypto

2 years

Just a few things we're excited for in crypto ↓ - Blockchain's mobile moment - ZK, MPC, Post-quantum crypto - Developer onboarding for ZK - On-chain games - Non-transferable tokens - Decentralized energy More directly from our partners here:

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

3 years

The Witcher but with Mega Mutant Ape monsters.

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

3 years

In the end, you can't go across the street to buy a pizza with your arcade tokens...yet. So you just put them in your wallet until your next arcade visit.

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

3 years

A Master Class

Daren Matsuoka

@DarenMatsuoka

3 years

Event logs are one of the most important sources of historical data on Ethereum. Learning how they are structured, and how to access them, is critical for anyone who wants to analyze smart contract interactions. Here’s what I’ve learned. 🧵👇

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

3 years

The agent checks to see if the address that sent a transaction to transfer an NFT differs from the “from” address emitted in a Transfer Event log. If they are different, there is a possibility that the NFT in question was sleep minted.

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

1 year

This scavenger hunt will have 3 riddles that need to be solved. I have hid 3 NFC tags around NYC at very special locations, each having to do with Ethereum in some way. Start solving riddles now here: Good Luck :)

Voyage to the Moon — x0r art

www.x0rart.com

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

3 years

So excited to work with the @Mysten_Labs team :)

AriannaSimpson.eth

@AriannaSimpson

3 years

Hi frens, I have some exciting news to share on this fine Monday! We’re leading the Series A round in @Mysten_Labs , which is building foundational infrastructure to fully unlock the potential of web3 👷‍♀️🛠👷‍♂️

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

3 years

Moreover, players can take their arcade tokens and swap them for unique prizes (NFTs).

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

With the Dynamic SDK, developers can copy and paste a few lines of code into their React apps (more libraries soon) and instantly get a pre-built “connect wallet” and user onboarding experience.

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

3 years

A Transfer Event log is a message sent to the outside world by a smart contract containing details about an NFT transfer and provides an efficient way to check an NFT's provenance.

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

Can someone please put “digiphysical”, “phygital”, and “diggy fizzy” into DALL-E 2? @janehk @carrawu @alexzhang__

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

3 years

An arcade is a small ecosystem detached from the outside world governed by tokens/tickets and full of autonomous games. To participate in the arcade, you must exchange your USD for the arcade's native token (for example, on Coinbase).

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Michael Blau

@blauyourmind

2 years

This is today.