Luke Dashjr, a core developer for Bitcoin, called out the people running an NFT auction for using his name and code without his knowledge or permission.
Luke Dashjr, one of Bitcoin’s original core developers, took to social media to call out an auction site that made and sold a “misleading” NFT using his name and code without his permission.
The core developer said that he is not the first person who worked on Bitcoin to have his name or work used in this way.
In a Feb. 27 tweet, the developer said that an auction site sold a non-fungible token with a picture of code he wrote for 0.41 Bitcoin, or about $9,500 at the time of writing.
I want to make public my concern about "NFTs" which are being sold utilizing my name. Recently, a picture of code I wrote was sold at auction for .41 BTC. It was advertised as my code in the listing and presented to the public for sale and profit.
— Luke Dashjr (@LukeDashjr) February 27, 20231/9 pic.twitter.com/5TcEJu4p5e
“It was advertised as my code in the listing and presented to the public for sale and profit,” Dashjr explained.
“Let me be clear – I was not involved with the creation and sale of this or any other NFTs. I have not consented to the use of my code or my name for this purpose. Instead, 3rd parties are marketing my name and my code for their own monetary gain,” he added.
Dashjr said that the auction’s winner eventually got in touch with him, and he had to tell them he had nothing to do with the sale.
Dashjr says that either the auction site or the seller reached out to him and offered him “a donation of 90% of the auction proceeds,” which he turned down.
Dashjr asserts that either the purchaser or the auction site reached out to him and offered him “a donation of 90 % of the auction proceeds,” which he declined.
“The public should also be aware that the seller and/or auction site offered me a donation of 90% of the auction proceeds ‘should I choose to accept’ it. I feel this is a clear attempt to: (1) bribe me into silence; and/or (2) obtain my consent after the fact,” he explained, adding:
“I will not accept such payment at the expense of the public who are being misled. I will not accept any such ‘donation’.”
“Due to the misrepresentation involved and actual buyer confusion, I strongly insist upon 100% of the auction proceeds to be refunded to the buyer,” Dashjr said.
According to Dashjr, “other Bitcoin devs” have been placed in similar circumstances and offered “considerable” donations in exchange for their cooperation; however, he did not provide further details.
“Stop using my name to mislead the public so you can make a quick buck. It’s wrong,” Dashjr said.
“I do not consent to the use of my name or code for this grift. I want the public to be aware of where I stand,” he added.
Over 80% of NFTs minted using OpenSea’s tool were “plagiarized works, fake collections, and spam,” the decentralized marketplace reported at the start of last year.
On the last day of 2022, Dashjr reportedly fell victim to a hack that caused him to lose “basically” all of his BTC. Hackers gained access to his PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) key, a common security method that uses two keys to encrypt information.
Content Source: cointelegraph.com