One crypto user lives a tough life. One sniper bot’s actions and a poorly executed keystroke caused a multimillion-dollar error on March 10.
A rock worth 444 Ether ( ETH), which is $1.2 million, was sold for 444 Wii ($0.0012). DinoDealer, the bot selling it, had confused WEI with ETH. The seller tweeted that “in one click, my entire net worth ($1,000,000) was gone.”
What’s your week like?
Mine? My mistake?
Bot sniped the block in the same block, and trying to flip it for 234 eth
My entire net worth of $1,000,000 dollars was gone in one click
Do you believe there is any hope?
What is my GMI?
Do snipers have to show mercy? pic.twitter.com/yq9Itb2Ukb
— Rock dust (@dino_dealer).
March 10, 2022
Bot snipers are the term for bot snipers. They were first used on eBay. The tools are useful for buyers who want to time their bids to the very last second. They are now very popular on listings for non-fungible tokens (NFT). Upwork currently lists bot-sniping tools for OpenSea, a popular freelance website. Prices start at $200
Once the bot has taken the NFT, or digital receipt, there is no turning back. Because blockchains are immutable, simple errors, such as confusing ETH with WEI, can lead to huge financial losses.
Human error is a common occurrence in the crypto-world. A Bitcoin (BTC), user lost $10,000 (0.25 BTC). This mistake could have been avoided if they double-checked their receiver address.
DinoDealer seems to have accepted the loss and has publicly shared the address for the rock’s botsnipe. The seller, DinoDealer, made light of the situation and uploaded a new profile picture to Twitter. Their avatar is next to the precious stone, which has been crossed in red.
DinoDealer’s latest Twitter photo with cancelled and sad rocks in the background. Source: Twitter
DinoDealer’s futile attempts to contact the “crypto customer support” were met with untrustworthy replies offering to help. They also received WhatsApp numbers and email addresses.
Screenshots of the conversations DinoDealer had with “crypto customer service.” Source: Twitter
These numbers and email addresses are not to be reached.
For seemingly minor mistakes, the past month was turbulent with potentially devastating consequences. Sometimes, a single mistake can cause market value to plummet by millions of dollars. This has become more common.
Similar: Rare Bears Phishing Attack nabs $800K from NFTs
A Coinbase white hacker found a flaw in the Coinbase Pro code which could have nuked market, while frantic trading behavior depleted the WTF token launch fund of 58 Ethereum. The launch was exposed by poor liquidity pool management.
DinoDealer has had better times. Other crypto rock enthusiasts have helped him, one user sending a picture of the stone with headphones and glasses to the geologist, signed “mfer rock”.
Rock bottom consolation for one million dollars. Source: Etherscan
