Intended as a free collectible for a $243M theft investigation, ZachXBT’s NFT on Base has become a $15M memecoin due to Zora’s automated setup.
Author: ZachXBT
Key Takeaways
- ZachXBT's NFT investigation document was unintentionally converted into a $15 million meme coin on the Base network.
- The Zora protocol's lack of interface clarity regarding ERC-20 token creation led to the meme coin's emergence.
A token unintentionally created by blockchain investigator ZachXBT on the Base network, has reached a $15 million market cap after being automatically converted into a tradable asset.
The token, issued through the Zora protocol in August, was meant to archive ZachXBT’s investigation of a $243 million theft involving a Genesis creditor as free NFTs documenting the investigation.
However, unknown to ZachXBT, Zora’s UI automatically converted these NFTs into ERC-20 tokens, making them tradable on DEXs like Uniswap.
“The Zora UI currently does not give any indication to creators that an ERC-20 token will also be launched at the conclusion of an open edition NFT mint,” ZachXBT stated , providing screenshots demonstrating the interface’s lack of clarity.
The protocol created approximately 3,500 tokens on Base through its ERC20z standard, which enables NFTs to be wrapped into ERC-20 tokens or unwrapped back to ERC-1155 tokens.
This functionality allows trading via Uniswap, similar to other token creation platforms.
The token’s value surged from nearly zero to $4,300 per token, reaching a market cap of $15 million, but it has since plunged to a $4 million market cap at the time of writing, according to DEX Screener data .
243M Theft/WETH token chart (TradingView) ZachXBT expressed displeasure with the speculative trading, stating,
“If people continue tagging me on posts, I am going to dilute the piece with more mints that do not have an end date and possibly take other actions like replacing artwork off Zora with a blank image.”
The investigator clarified that his original intention was simply to archive investigative content permanently on the blockchain, similar to his previous articles hosted on Mirror.
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