The Weirdest Non-Fungible Crypto News Stories of 2021

If you've been a part of the crypto sphere over these last twelve months, chances are; a) you've substantially increased your net worth, and b) you've seen some stuff, maaaaan...

A long, long time ago (around about June) I started a silly little show called 'Nevermind the Shitcoins'. In just 18 episodes (not including bonuses and trailers), we've covered some of the craziest crypto and blockchain stories from around the magical internet money world, in a game we call 'Non-Fungible News'.

So, what better way to kick off 2022, than by taking a quick peek over our collective shoulders at the weird and wonderful stories from last year? Maybe we'll spot a trend or two, maybe we'll just chuckle, either way, in no particular order:

Mr Goxx and his Goxx Box

Ever feel like you're no better a trader than a hamster on a wheel? Well, you're probably right. Mr Goxx found celebrity status this summer as his owner decided to hand over his private keys to the little furball. And what do you know? Mr Goxx was pretty good, even managing to make money on Tron somehow. Sadly, he passed away in November this year, maybe a side effect of the mid-November BTC price drop?

Tungsten Cubes

Psst, hey, kid! Looking for alternative investment vehicles to diversify your digital pixel art portfolio?

Well, you're in luck then! Let me introduce you to the wonderful world of Tungsten cubes!

They're cubes... and, well, they're made of Tungsten. What's not to love!? Crypto aficionados went doolally for the precious dense lumps this summer, oddly enough, following a strange incident with a typo and funny man of CoinDesk, Neeraj.

And for those who like their dense lumps larger, Midwest Tungsten are offering time-share NFTs which grant one day a year access to their safely stored 14 inch cube. A bargain at ~$250,000, right? I'll put you down for 2.

Canadian Codeslaw

2021 saw more DeFi protocol hacks than ever before, and while many of these exploits resulted in relatively happy endings with funds being returned, others did not. In October, a Canadian teenage smarty pants managed to swipe a cool $16m in a hack before being subsequently doxxed by the internet. However, things got interesting (depending on your stance), when little Canadian Andy point blank refused to return the funds, claiming 'code is law', and that he would fight this case 'to the death'. Unfortunately for him, however, it seems the Canadian law enforcement aren't convinced yet, and a warrant was recently issued for his arrest.

*Before you start feeling sorry for little Andy, I probably wouldn't. When researching for the podcast I also found out the kid is a horrible white supremacist proud boy type. So, you know, not every story is as black and white as it seems.

Vitalik's Infinite Garden

Once upon a time, there was a half stick insect man, called Vitalik Buterin. One day, he got very mad about his World of Warcraft character being nerfed in a new update. But he didn't get mad, no, he got Ethereum.

I'm sure the makers of the real movie will do a better job of the tagline with the 1000+ Eth they raised, but I can't be too far off the mark. 'Ethereum: The infinite Garden', probably won't be coming to cinemas near you anytime soon. Maybe you can stream it somewhere though. Or not. I mean, life's short.

Eth to Fight Pirates, Bitcoin to fight Cocaine Dealers

Here's a two-for-one to round things off, it seems crypto is much more useful than we even us blockchain dreamers dared believe, according to Bill Gates and a Columbian politician at least.

Sadly, whilst Gates is only planning on fighting online pirates with the Ethereum blockchain, Colombian officials are much more literal in their claims. They plan to follow in El Salvador's footsteps, and make mining Bitcoin using the countries numerous waterfalls more profitable than legacy trades the nation is otherwise famous for.

Why not, eh?

Nevermind the Shitcoins

If you enjoyed these oddball stories, you might also like:

Look at all those happy faces (including Hackernoon's own Utsav and Amy!) enjoying life and cracking wise about crypto, why wouldn't you want to give it a try?

Link -> nevermindtheshitcoins.com

I'll be announcing details for series 3 soon, so watch this space!