This happened to a developer who wanted to create a cryptocurrency.
A developer “accidentally” staked five ethers worth around $9,000 at the current ETH price, instead of his test cryptocurrency. The problem is that everything has been left blocked for 100 years.
The developer got noticed on 4chan, a technology discussion forum. There he asked for help creating his ERC-20 test token on the Ethereum tesnet and staking it, thus blocking it.
A netizen then suggested that he use the UNCX network protocol to lock up liquidity tokens, which he did by adding five ethers and 1 billion proof tokens as liquidity on Uniswap.
He then proceeded with a padlock using the UNCX protocol, thus sealing the fate of these tokens for the next 100 years, which is until December 31, 2123.
After this maneuver, he declared that he would “get out of there” without specifying more. Shortly after, he confirmed that he had managed to recover his ETH, but left doubts by asking how to unlock the tokens, still on 4Chan.
He then claimed that Ether had been locked up for 100 years and that this was the Ethereum testnet. Another user revealed that this was not the case and that these funds had been locked up on the actual mainnet.
Crypto Twitter Lights Up: Crypto Caps $6 Million
The case quickly went viral on social media, with investors seeing the TEST token as an investment opportunity, both for speculation and for the “involuntary” blocking of 1 billion tokens for 100 years.
This caused many to dismiss the possibility of a “rug-pulling”-style scam, where developers of a cryptocurrency abandon the project and sell large amounts shortly after a sharp appreciation, resulting in the cryptocurrency’s sudden collapse, leaving investors in the dark.
The debates quickly began. Was it really a mistake, or was this gesture premeditated to attract attention? For some, the intentional blocking of funds could be a bullish sign for the project, while for others it was just a deliberate ploy to get attention.
Word quickly spread through the cryptocurrency world, and the test token in question generated buzz, with a market capitalization momentarily reaching $6 million. But fate seemed to play against the developer, and the price of the token eventually plummeted, losing 70% of its value.
Crypto Community Reactions
A 4chan user recommended the UNCX Network protocol to lock up liquidity tokens, which resulted in the developer adding five ether and 1 billion test tokens as liquidity on Uniswap and receiving 70,700 LP tokens in return. They then locked the LP tokens using the UNCX network protocol, setting a duration to December 31, 2123.
The developer initially claimed that the locked ether was on the Ethereum testnet; however, another user corrected them and revealed that the real funds were actually locked up for a century. After the event, the price of the test token skyrocketed, with its market cap peaking at $6 million before falling to $1.5 million.
Multiple commenters on Twitter and 4chan have cast doubt on the incident, suggesting it was a premeditated scheme to gain attention. As the debate continues, some Twitter users have even requested to be reminded of the event 100 years from now.
By Leonardo Perez
