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Today's Top Crypto Headlines:
Abstract Wallets Drained | OpenSea Halts Airdrop Rewards | Grok-3 Beats AI Rivals and more...
King Fatrick Gil Añasco
February 19, 2025
Good Morning Crypto Enthusiasts!
Glad to have you back for another edition of the UseTheBitcoin.com newsletter.
Abstract Wallets Drained: Ethereum Layer-2 platform Abstract is investigating a wallet drain incident tied to the Cardex game. Developers confirmed the issue stemmed from session key mismanagement, not a smart contract exploit.
OpenSea Pauses Airdrop Rewards: OpenSea has halted its XP rewards system after criticism of incentivizing wash trading and prioritizing fees over creators.
💡Feature of the Day - Grok-3 Beats AI Rivals: Elon Musk’s xAI announced Grok-3 has outperformed ChatGPT, Gemini, and DeepSeek in benchmark tests.
All this and more in today’s headlines!
📰 News Highlights:
Ethereum Layer-2 platform Abstract is investigating a wallet drain incident affecting some users.
We are aware of some Abstract users being compromised and want to assure everyone it is not a network wide Abstract Global Wallet (AGW) issue.
This issue seems to be isolated to an app (seems to be Cardex, please do not interact for the time being), we are working to get to the… x.com/i/web/status/1…
— 0xBeans (@0x_Beans)
12:01 PM • Feb 18, 2025
Developer 0xBeans clarified that the issue was not a global Abstract Global Wallets (AGW) problem but linked to the Cardex game.
Over 1 million Abstract Global Wallets have been deployed since we launched.
A huge percentage of these smart wallets are actively using the chain.
We've done more than almost anyone else in the space to bring on the next generation of smart wallets.
And we're just starting.
— cygaar (@0xCygaar)
6:48 PM • Feb 17, 2025
Users were urged to avoid interactions with Cardex until further notice.
Full report coming in a bit, but here's the TLDR of the situation:
- The issue is related to @cardex_space. If you've ever interacted with this app, revoke your sessions here: revoke.abs.xyz. This is super important.
- This is not an issue with AGW's contracts. There… x.com/i/web/status/1…
— cygaar (@0xCygaar)
1:43 PM • Feb 18, 2025
Developer 0xCygaar reaffirmed that Abstract's smart contracts were secure, and the breach was due to session key mismanagement on the app’s side.
@cardex_space You promoted cardex on website and official X account following them! It s your fault!
i need refund— Ordinary Man (@King_Morttt)
2:16 PM • Feb 18, 2025
Some users, however, accused the team of indirectly endorsing Cardex, while others claimed their wallets were drained despite not using the app.
@cardex_space I DONT USE CARDEX AND WAS DRAIN!!!! you can chek my wallet 0x6bbCa21dba8F4ba7975750d06c2DCE7dC2999F34
— Unknown_First #SS 🏴☠️ (@unknow_first)
2:14 PM • Feb 18, 2025
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NFT marketplace OpenSea has paused its XP reward system after backlash from users criticizing its mechanics.
$SEA is coming.
Here are a few things to know:
• Historical OpenSea usage, not just recent activity, will be an important ingredient
• Claim process will be simple and accessible. US users welcome
• We’re focused on long-term sustainability and supporting a healthy, enduring… x.com/i/web/status/1…— OpenSea Foundation (@openseafdn)
2:11 PM • Feb 13, 2025
The new system, introduced in the beta version of OS2, faced scrutiny for encouraging wash trading and prioritizing fee generation over creator support.
we've heard the feedback on the current XP system, and we're putting a pause on XP given directly for listing and bidding
while we don’t think liquidity rewards are inherently bad (see more below), we understand that there are a lot of strong emotions towards point systems, and… x.com/i/web/status/1…
— dfinzer.eth | opensea (@dfinzer)
8:41 AM • Feb 18, 2025
CEO Devin Finzer announced that XP rewards for listing and bidding would be paused, shifting focus to XP shipments instead.
The trading activity of the top Opensea $SEA airdrop farmers is absolutely crazy.
Let's take a look at DE777, the top XP farmer of the last 24 hours.
As soon as one of his bids is triggered, he immediately dumps the NFTs on the next farmer, sometimes within seconds of his bid… x.com/i/web/status/1…
— wale.moca 🐳 (@waleswoosh)
9:12 AM • Feb 17, 2025
Critics compared OpenSea’s system to Blur’s high-frequency trading mechanics, arguing that it lacked safeguards such as cooldown periods and minimum royalties.
It's sad, but @opensea is in the process of ruining all of our hopes for the $SEA airdrop.
This is the leaderboard for 24hr OS XP. The guy at the top has dumped over 50 NFTs into bids and given OpenSea > $20k in fees in the last 24 hours.
Basically the same is true for anyone… x.com/i/web/status/1…
— stonkrates⟐⛩️🦭 (@stonkrates)
5:22 AM • Feb 16, 2025
Some traders exploited the system to farm XP without capital loss, leading to calls for reform.
I cannot express my disappointment as a long term supporter and partner of @opensea in the format of their XP farming campaign.
The lack of response from the account/team today is absolutely staggering.
To say there is a total disconnect from the scripted tripe that @dfinzer… x.com/i/web/status/1…
— Benjamin 🧢 (@HelloBenWhite)
8:43 PM • Feb 17, 2025
While OpenSea's response was praised, the controversy highlights ongoing challenges in balancing incentives and platform integrity.
$SEA / @opensea has paused earning XP for listings and offers
Now, buying and holding earns more points
Considering their recent market share, popularity, and revenue growth, this change is unexpected, but their updates in response to user feedback are commendable
— LANGERIUS (@langeriuseth)
9:57 AM • Feb 18, 2025
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💡 Feature of the Day:
Elon Musk’s xAI announced that its new AI model, Grok-3, has surpassed ChatGPT, Gemini, and DeepSeek in blind benchmark tests.
Released under the alias “chocolate” for community testing, Grok-3 ranked highest in categories such as math, coding, and instruction following.
BREAKING: @xai early version of Grok-3 (codename "chocolate") is now #1 in Arena! 🏆
Grok-3 is:
- First-ever model to break 1400 score!
- #1 across all categories, a milestone that keeps getting harder to achieveHuge congratulations to @xai on this milestone! View thread 🧵… x.com/i/web/status/1…
— lmarena.ai (formerly lmsys.org) (@lmarena_ai)
4:28 AM • Feb 18, 2025
The model’s performance has sparked excitement in the AI community, setting a new record score of 1400, which continues to rise.
The ranking currently (my opinion), for code:
ChatGPT o1-pro
o1
o3-mini
(all kind of tied)Grok 3 (expected, tbd)
Claude 3.5 Sonnet
DeepSeek
GPT-4o
Grok 2
Gemini 2.0 Pro Series (might be higher, will probably move up)
— Benjamin De Kraker (@BenjaminDEKR)
8:59 PM • Feb 8, 2025
Musk also revealed that Grok-3 would power Tesla Bots for an upcoming Mars mission, potentially launching in 2026.
You can use Grok in the 𝕏 app, download the dedicated Grok app or go directly to the Grok website.
The latest functionality will be on the Grok website, as that does not require approval from Apple or Android, which can add up to a week of delay.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk)
11:04 PM • Feb 18, 2025
😂 Crypto Meme of the Day:
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And that’s it for this today.
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See you all tomorrow’s edition!
Jonathan Gibson
UseTheBitcoin.com