Today marks the sixth anniversary of Cryptopunks, the NFT collection that sparked the revolution.

Here's the strange story of Punk 9998.

One of those stories that could only happen in the crypto realm.

In October 2021, the biggest NFT purchase ever took place.

A Cryptopunk sold for over 500 million USD.

But it didn't count.

Here's what happened:

On a Thursday night, the astounding sale of Punk 9998, left people all over the CT wondering what happened.

The Punk wasn't even a rare one to justify the half-billion-dollar sale.

Was it a money laundering case or an exploit?

No, it was closer to a prank.

The buyer and seller were the same person.

In traditional finance, this is known as a wash-trade, which is a sort of market manipulation used to make an asset appear to be worth more than it actually is.

But how did this person come up with that much money to make the trade?

The funds came through a flash loan, one of the most interesting mechanics, available only on DeFi.

A flash loan is a special type of blockchain transaction that allows you to borrow X amount of money with no collateral.

Win-win scenario right?

Well, you should know that to make this work, you must return the loan within the same transaction block.

Essentially, you must initiate, use, and repay the loan on the Ethereum network in around 15 seconds.

That is how long it generally takes for a transaction to be validated.

A flash loan is like using a time-traveling DeLorean from "Back to the Future" to borrow money.

You can make unlimited profits within the trip but must return the exact amount before it ends.

If not, the timeline resets and all your gains vanish.

Similarly, if you fail to repay within the same transaction in the blockchain realm, everything is reversed, and it's as if the loan never happened.

Flash loans have many uses:

• Liquidity swaps

• Collateral swaps

• Self-liquidation

To sum it up flash loans are an advanced technique, typically used by developers.

However, they have a negative reputation due to their involvement in numerous significant hacks.

Some interesting stories there as well.

Now let's wrap up the Punk 9998 story.

According to @cryptopunksnfts, the bid, while technically valid for a short time, can never be approved.

They also filtered the sales bot to avoid further notifications for these types of transactions.

The owner of Punk 9998, did not profit from the trade.

Moreover, it cost him/her around 800 USD in transaction fees.

Shortly after that, Punk 9998 was offered for sale at the price of 250K Eth, a whole billion USD.

That's a wrap!

Hope you enjoyed the story and learned something because I have some more in the works.

If you need additional resources for the story or flash loans let me know, happy to provide them.

Thank you very much for reading fam❤️🪄

I've experienced a strange sense of clarity for the last several days.

So I made a mindmap of everything I want to improve in the near future.

The pages at the top and middle that stand alone are "Physical/Mental Health" and "Networking."

Without them, everything is a castle in the sand.

Life is short and without people is meaningless.

There is also a hidden page, the key to shift from theory to implementation: AI 🪄

2 weeks, 12 lectures, 13 threads, 100k impressions:
A story of pain, hope, and atonement, which also brought me to @lensprotocol .

It was October, and the Web3 community was buzzing with excitement. The University of Nicosia announced the first on-chain course led by George Giaglis and #Punk6529. Learning from the brightest minds in Web3, all for free, was an opportunity not to be missed.

With excitement, I began watching lectures and discussing the historic initiative in Twitter spaces.
From the start, I wanted to contribute something, even just a tiny brick. I considered summarizing lectures for those unable to attend, but I was too busy with work at the time.

Winter was coming, and suddenly in the span of a month, everything fell apart.
I was struggling for months in a way that I hadn't experienced in my life before.
And I was out—not only from Web3 but out of will and hope.

But the course remained on my mind. I started transcribing lectures with the help of AI tools, as videos weren't the ideal learning method for me. Perhaps others faced similar challenges, and translations to Greek could be useful. Halfway through, I realized the university had already done this, so I left it.

Spring arrived. A tweet caught my eye—exams were starting in two weeks, and I needed to prepare.

That's when the idea struck: "What if I create exam simulations based on each lecture to help myself and others prepare through Twitter threads?" My inner critic started talking, disputing the value I could add and the result of my efforts.

I decided that even if I helped just one person, it would be worth it. My schedule was so full, and adding this seemed almost crazy. But I wanted to do it.

So, I started.

The community welcomed my initiative, giving me the energy to complete what I'd begun. After two exhausting weeks, I took the exam once I finished the threads.

It was challenging, and I was burned out. But my efforts paid off—I scored a 96%. It will be recorded forever on the blockchain that I was one of the best students in the first-ever on-chain course.

But do you know what the greatest part is, the one that will soon be forgotten?

All those people shared that the Studying in Public (SIP) threads had helped them pass the exam.

That's why I am writing this.

To create a digital reminder of how happy it makes me feel to help people in my unique way, of what I am able to do even while recovering from my toughest months.

Education and solidarity remain our greatest assets to make ourselves and the world around us, a little better. I look forward to the day I will be a core part of something that gives value and it’s helpful to the world.

I hope the Metaverse will be an evolution of current social media, a safe place where the limitations of time and space won't discourage people from making deep, unexpected connections.

To the person who made me believe I was worth more than I thought.

To life's blocks of positive influence.

To all the beautiful people out there:

Don't stop dreaming 🪄

Yoooo, @lensprotocol fam!

It's only been a few days since I gained access here, something I've wanted for months.

While I enjoy Twitter, decentralized social media like Lens represents the future I want to be part of, a world full of promise and exploration. If you possess any resources to help me on this journey, please share them.

**@punkess** has provided me with the basics, offering excellent content while remaining approachable and helpful. I seek to connect with like-minded individuals, share experiences, and, most importantly, learn.

My background is in history, e-commerce and I entered the Web3 space when I got hired as CM for a generative art project resulting in 2 minted-out collections. While I don’t have a clue about my future paths, at least I know that they will be in Web3, and I love to write about it along with A.I tools and life. 

During my short time on Lens, I've minted the first-ever Dynamic NFT collection, an innovative concept I adore. Kudos to the @lensgardennft team for a triumphant launch, integrating art with themes of nature, growth, and evolution.

I have some feedback about the concept: perhaps implementing a daily cap on XP that holders can farm would be beneficial. We know that unlimited social media usage harms mental health, and farming solely for XP could result in spam and short-term burnout. With rumors of an airdrop, I'm concerned about the quality of interactions on Lens. I'd love to hear your thoughts, as I'm still new here.

I hope to provide value through my experiences.
If my presence helps even one person, then all the challenges I've faced are worth a little more.

Special thanks to @antonis, the primary reason you're reading this.

Much love, fam 🪄