Nick Johnson, a leading Ethereum Name Service (ENS) developer, lost access to the oldest decentralized domain name in NFT form, which, due to a bug, ended up at the burn address used by the OpenSea marketplace. In total, the bug affected at least 42 NFTs worth 28.44 ETH (about $100,000).
Johnson owned the first [simple_tooltip content=’The ENS service allows linking blockchain addresses to specific domains, which simplifies sending transactions’]ENS[/simple_tooltip]-domain rilxxlir.eth, registered in 2017, and decided to sell it as an NFT.
For reasons not disclosed, the domain belonged to an ENS account, although, according to Johnson, he registered and paid for it himself.
Before the auction began, the developer sent the NFT to his personal address nick.eth. However, the NFT ended up at the OpenSea burn address, and the assets there cannot be moved again.
A frantic call to @OpenSea later, it transpires I was the first and apparently only victim of a bug introduced to their transfer page in the past 24 hours, which affected all ERC721 transfers to ENS names. Ownership of rilxxlir.eth is now permanently burned.
— nick.eth (@nicksdjohnson) September 7, 2021
“After contacting OpenSea, it turned out I was the first victim of a bug affecting all ERC-721 transfers to ENS names. The ownership of rilxxlir.eth is now permanently burned,” wrote Nick Johnson.
The developer still controls this ENS domain and can change the addresses linked to it on the blockchain, but cannot move the token itself.
Johnson later uncovered another 32 transactions involving 42 NFTs affected by the bug. The minimum value of all burned tokens stands at 28.44 ETH (about $100,000).
According to Johnson, OpenSea has already fixed the bug. A spokesperson for the marketplace did not comment.
Earlier in March, self-styled crypto-enthusiasts staged an auction of an NFT copy of Banksy’s Morons. burned its original beforehand. The performers said they would be prepared to do the same with the certificate of authenticity of the painting if the token buyer did not request it, or if the NFT itself went unclaimed. They pledged to donate part of the proceeds.
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