{"id":112638,"date":"2020-11-16T01:54:23","date_gmt":"2020-11-15T22:54:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/mysterious-cat-burglar-pilfers-cryptokitty-from-digital-art-installation\/"},"modified":"2020-11-16T01:54:23","modified_gmt":"2020-11-15T22:54:23","slug":"mysterious-cat-burglar-pilfers-cryptokitty-from-digital-art-installation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/mysterious-cat-burglar-pilfers-cryptokitty-from-digital-art-installation\/","title":{"rendered":"# Mysterious \u2018cat burglar\u2019 pilfers CryptoKitty from digital art installation"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a37323f3de1e\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a37323f3de1e\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/mysterious-cat-burglar-pilfers-cryptokitty-from-digital-art-installation\/#The_perversion_of_digital_scarcity\" >The perversion of digital scarcity<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/mysterious-cat-burglar-pilfers-cryptokitty-from-digital-art-installation\/#A_new_generation_of_collectors\" >A new generation of collectors<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong># Mysterious \u2018cat burglar\u2019 pilfers CryptoKitty from digital art installation <\/strong>&#8221;<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.cointelegraph.com\/images\/840_aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy5jb2ludGVsZWdyYXBoLmNvbS91cGxvYWRzLzIwMjAtMTEvMzFjODQzYjEtOWY5Yy00YzdlLWFlYjMtNjk0ZmJiMjUzM2VkLmpwZw==.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-content\" data-v-5a136f3a>On Friday, Kevin Abosch \u2014 an Irish conceptual artist who was among the first to use blockchain <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology<\/a> as a medium \u2014 reported that a dastardly heist had been committed in one of his on-chain installations, an Ethereum wallet-turned-artwork titled &#8220;Stealing The Contents of This Wallet Is a Crime&#8221; (2018).<\/p>\n<p>In a Tweet the artist, whose work has been exhibited at The Hermitage, said that a CryptoKitty had been swiped from the freely-accessible address:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Hi <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CryptoKitties?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@CryptoKitties<\/a>\/<a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/dapperlabs?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@dapperlabs<\/a> &#8211; Someone tipped me that &#8220;IAMA Kitty&#8221; was sitting in the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/crypto?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#crypto<\/a> wallet of my artwork &#8220;Stealing The Contents of This Wallet is a Crime&#8221; (2018). I can confirm it has just been &#8220;stolen.&#8221;  <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/IAMA?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#IAMA<\/a> <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/IAMACOIN?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#IAMACOIN<\/a> <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/IAMAKitty?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#IAMAKitty<\/a> <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/vq1RmktSs0\">pic.twitter.com\/vq1RmktSs0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Kevin Abosch (@kevinabosch) <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/kevinabosch\/status\/1327244417502212098?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 13, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\u201cStealing The Contents\u2026\u201d is one of what Abosch calls his \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social<\/a> experiments challenging value systems\u201d \u2014 a conceptual framework especially fitting for the crypto world.<strong> <\/strong>Part of &#8220;Stealing The Contents\u2026\u201d included tokens deposited to the wallet from his \u201cI Am A Coin\u201d (2018) <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.iamacoin.com\/\">piece<\/a>, in which Abosch tokenized himself in a process involving the artist\u2019s own blood to distribute 10 million tokens with the \u2018IAMA\u2019 ticker.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He described \u201cStealing\u2026\u201d as a mutual playground for explorers, and participants largely responded with goodwill and good humor: Ethereum-savvy art fans played with the blood-tokens\u2019 occult implications \u2014 for instance moving .666 of IAMA in and out of the \u201cStealing\u2026\u201d wallet, among other hijinks. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think people just wanted to interact with and therefore become part of the art in a sense,\u201d said Abosch.<\/p>\n<p>These ideals are precisely what made Friday\u2019s theft seem so cruel. Even for a space rife with scammers, charlatans, and crooks, stealing a CryptoKitty \u2014 one named in honor of his work, no less \u2014 from a freely accessible wallet seemed unusually mean-spirited.<\/p>\n<p>When asked in an interview if the theft upset him, however, Abosch began to laugh. <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cActually, I stole it,\u201d he confessed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_perversion_of_digital_scarcity\"><\/span>The perversion of digital scarcity<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Abosch explained to Cointelegraph that a friend told him the Kitty had been deposited in the wallet, and given its name, \u201cIAMA Kitty,\u201d he assumed it was a gift intended for him from D<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>er Labs.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought, \u2018I ought to have that,\u2019\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<p>Abosch made it clear, however, that this cat burglary would not be the start of a larger NFT collectibles or art collection. In fact, as the conversation turned to the state of blockchain-based art, he expressed dismay with a number of ongoing trends, starting with valuations of digital art being rooted primarily in their rarity. <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cI find something perverse about engineering scarcity,\u201d he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Bronze sculptures, he explained, are scarce because sculptors can only afford so much bronze \u2014 with real-world art, there are inherent resource-related limitations. Digital scarcity, on the other hand, is entirely artificial. <\/p>\n<p>Likewise, the current wave of artists releasing their work as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) doesn\u2019t impress him. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cMany so-called crypto-artists are minting NFT\u2019s but are only using blockchain technology as a tool to engineer scarcity and as a platform to sell their work,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not making a qualitative assessment of the work \u2014 only challenging the nomenclature. Of course, there are artists whose work deals thematically with cryptocurrency, blockchain technology [&#8230;] which seems better suited to the term crypto-art.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He went on to explain that pieces that use the technology in more innovative ways are what really excites him.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cWhat interests me more are pieces where blockchain is the method, where the soul or meat of the piece is integrally woven into the blockchain,\u201d he said. \u201cThe NFT only speaks to the platform that facilitated the mint and the sale.\u201d\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The wave of speculators and collectors moving into NFT-backed art also seemed to leave him uncomfortable.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI find that people buy art for one or more of three reasons: because they genuinely want to experience the work, as a form of social proof, or as an investment opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Far too few, he implied, purchase art for the experience. <\/p>\n<p>He bemoaned that between the medium, the artists, and the buyers, the current cryptoart landscape has effectively recreated the foulest qualities of the legacy art world \u2014 what he called \u201cone of the most corrupt industries on the planet\u201d \u2014 both fueled by avarice, ego, and hype. <\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"A_new_generation_of_collectors\"><\/span>A new generation of collectors<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>While Abosch\u2019s complaints might strike some as the archetypal grumblings of an old head poo-poohing the new generation, he does see a bright spot among the NFT art madness: a forthcoming community of art lovers focused on on-chain work.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wonder when crypto-bros discuss the immaterial nature of their art, if they delve into the philosophical implications of materiality and ownership\u201d he waxed. \u201cThere\u2019s a whole younger generation of people who don\u2019t seem hung up on the physical, though they still seem to crave the rare.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Slipping back into a more sardonic tone, he went on to say the collectors better enjoy it, too, because at current prices they might be stuck with their purchases for a while. <\/p>\n<p>Too many are buying as an investment, he said, hoping to resell at a later date among even more frenzied NFT-mania. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just don\u2019t think there\u2019s that much money floating around,\u201d he cautioned. \u201cThere\u2019s a perception that this is a gold-rush, but I\u2019m not sure there\u2019s gold in them thar hills.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Regardless of his suspicions, he\u2019ll allow himself at least one cute NFT collectible. <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cMy kids said they wanted a kitten. Let\u2019s see how they react.\u201d\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/general\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">General category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/news\/mysterious-cat-burglar-pilfers-cryptokitty-from-digital-art-installation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;# Mysterious \u2018cat burglar\u2019 pilfers CryptoKitty from digital art installation &#8221; On Friday, Kevin Abosch \u2014 an Irish conceptual artist who was among the first to use blockchain technology as a medium \u2014 reported that a dastardly heist had been committed in one of his on-chain installations, an Ethereum wallet-turned-artwork titled &#8220;Stealing The Contents of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":112639,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/s3.cointelegraph.com\/uploads\/2020-11\/31c843b1-9f9c-4c7e-aeb3-694fbb2533ed.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[74894,77169,74891,116,55649],"class_list":["post-112638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-blockchain","tag-cryptokitties","tag-ethereum","tag-art","tag-artists"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112638","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112638"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112638\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}