Since the last update, a lot has changed. Pay.Via.Eth alpha is available on the Via.Eth web store. I have addressed some UX hangups and made bug fixes and updates, hopefully heading for acceptance into the wordpress.org code repository. I also worked on the Via.Eth website. I have made changes and tweak to the Website, Webstore, and Community to be intuitive and a clean fit within the features offered. The Website now has a community forum with various sections covering Ethereum, crypto, and general internet culture. The community forums also overlap with product support for Pay.Via.Eth and other projects. I have set up processes for adding more content to the Website in the form of blogs and posts. I know; the irony is that I would have more posts if I did regular project updates, with this being one of the areas I am continually trying to improve. Finally, I worked on refining products and product ideas for fundraising.
Starting on 5/15/22, I’m working full time on Via.Eth, I worked part-time on this project for the previous 14 months. I am currently working on adding website content with more in the pipelines. The project has a little more direction, and I will continue posting articles on the site. I’m also in the progress of updating the Pay.Via.Eth code. I am documenting needed UX changes. In addition, I’m researching available new models of fundraising, and I’ll be taking steps to monetize as much of this project as I can without compromising its open-source nature.
A couple of things to note: I’ve soft-launched https://Art.Via.Eth, a curated NFT art gallery. The site’s design and features will be updated and changed relatively soon. Also, the social media reach has grown to ~1190 users on Twitter.
What is next? A domain marketplace to sell domains and subdomains? How can I sell subdomains? ERC for Subdomains? A sign-in with Ethereum Plugin for WordPress? Should I add it to Pay.Via.Eth or does that need to be a separate plugin? Because of the security implications, it should probably be a new codebase. Updates on the Pay.Via.Eth plugin soon. The plugin’s UX and simple feature set are currently being formalized and will be released soon. Pretty much making the plugin as simple as possible right now to make sure the processes work. I will start thinking about offering sponsorship opportunities in banners on various pages.
Many people see the cryptocurrency revolution as the new gold rush. While bitcoin was the pioneer and still one of the largest stores of digital wealth, the Ethereum blockchain itself has brought about a drastic evolution of the crypto landscape, facilitating things like smart Many people see the cryptocurrency revolution as the new gold rush. While bitcoin was the pioneer and still one of the largest stores of digital wealth, the Ethereum blockchain has brought about a drastic evolution of the crypto landscape, facilitating things like smart contracts and non-fungible tokens, or NFTs. As a result, some early adopters of crypto are well-known names in finance and business and even constitute the most wealthy individuals in the country and beyond.
The Biggest Players In Crypto So Far The biggest names in crypto seem to have gotten involved, like many retail investors have, with bitcoin. However, some recent advancements in blockchain adaptability and usefulness seem to have tipped the scales, with many now looking to Ethereum for increased functionality and more diverse usability. Here are some of the billionaire household names that have crypto wallets.
Elon Musk The Auto/Space CEO is a significant proponent of bitcoin while simultaneously being one of its most prominent critics. He is also known throughout social media sites such as Twitter and Reddit for being a big booster and influencer for the meme coin Dogecoin, even promising to “take Dogecoin to Mars.” Musk has stated that he owns ETH, though he won’t divulge the volume of his holdings. Singer Grimes, the mother of one of Musk’s many children, has also sold her artwork as an NFT on the Ethereum blockchain.
Mark Zuckerberg The unblinking Facebook creator has recently become an Ethereum fan and announced plans to bring the concept of NFTs to his platform Instagram. He has stated that he will allow users to connect their Ethereum wallets to their Instagram accounts, bringing the creator of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin’s, ambition of having Ethereum “running the metaverse” one step closer. Zuckerberg was behind the Libra cryptocurrency, which rebranded, now known as Diem, which aims to create a stable coin for use in the metaverse.
Mark Cuban This Investment mastermind is known to be not only a relatively early adopter of bitcoin, but he’s also made headlines for being a backer of lesser-known Lazy.com, which allows NFT owners to show them off in a virtual gallery. Cuban made headlines after getting the “@NFT” account permanently banned from Instagram for reportedly not disclosing which posts were sponsored content. Cuban has stated that NFTs are why he’s now “all in” on crypto, being partial ETH and BTC.
Changpeng Zhao CEO of one of the largest crypto exchanges and an estimated 30% owner. The Binance “chain” is a fork of the Ethereum chain. While it is essentially an ETH copy, it changes to the consensus protocol, which allows some transactions to be faster but in a more centralized and less secure manner. With the recent surge in blockchain activity, particularly with NFTs on the powerhouse Ethereum blockchain, Zhao has become one of the wealthiest CEOs in the cryptocurrency arena.
Jack Dorsey sold the first tweet ever as a NFT.
Jack Dorsey The Twitter founder and Block payment system (formerly known as Square) creator eventually quit his position at the social media giant to become what HODLers call a “bitcoin maxi.” He is adamant that bitcoin is the only viable cryptocurrency and owns an estimated 8,000+ BTC. Dorsey is also famous for minting the first tweet on the Twitter platform as an NFT on Ethereum and donating the proceeds to charity. Additionally, Dorsey was rumored to have had a hand in the hexagonal profile pictures on Twitter, which indicates the account owner is involved with a verified NFT and can be activated by subscribing to the Twitter Blue premium service and linking your wallet and account.
Soulja Boy and Kim Kardashian
Soulja Boy While known to be an investor in Tron and Binance, he is most recently famous for being named in legal action surrounding an alleged crypto scam. Along with fellow rapper Lil Yachty, he is a defendant in a class-action suit that alleges that they participated in a “pump-and-dump” scheme with the SafeMoon token. Also named in the lawsuit is the brother of Logan Paul, Jake Paul. This scheme allegedly saw the celebrities leverage their status as influencers to artificially raise the token’s value without being open about their partial ownership in the company.
Kim Kardashian “The Kardashians” TV star was named in a lawsuit alleging that she took part in the pump and dump scheme behind the “EthereumMax” scam. Kim Kardashian received payment from “EthereumMax” to promote the currency in social media posts as a way to gain traction. Kardashian tweeted numerous times, allegedly making false or misleading statements which helped push its value higher than standard utility and usage could have.
Logan Paul This Social media influencer is one of the newest names in the crypto game. He announced in 2021 that he would be starting his very own cryptocurrency project, known as CryptoZoo. The autonomous ecosystem is similar to a modern-day spin-off of the famous early 2000s online game Neopets. With CryptoZoo, owners will be able to collect, breed, and trade hybrid digital animals in the form of NFTs while earning tokens. Paul is also alleged to have pumped the “Dink Doink” crypto token scam and is currently involved in minting NFTs in a collection called “99 Originals”.
Floyd Mayweather The Gold Medal Winning, World Class boxer faces a lawsuit for an alleged pump and dump scheme. The allegations state that he misled investors and artificially inflated the price of the cryptocurrency “EthereumMax.” Mayweather made “false or misleading statements” about the lesser-known crypto token in several social media posts. Mayweather also used his fame as a boxer to promote Pump and Dump NFT Projects and even accepted various scam coins as payment for his Exhibition match with Logan Paul.
Regulatory Hurdles and The Road Ahead
While there has been little regulation from the US government, there is still movement toward increased governance. For example, the Internal Revenue Service is beginning to tax crypto owners on their investments. While they won’t tax the purchase of any digital assets yet, it does set a tax on the sale of such holdings as cryptocurrencies and NFT art. Starting in 2022, the IRS has begun to require 1099-B forms for those with significant crypto sales and will collect taxes on the sales of similar assets going forward.
The 115th Congress has also begunlooking into potential regulation and increased monitoring of the crypto activities of US citizens. Congress examined the bitcoin ecosystem primarily in their initial blockchain hearings. However, they note the expanded Initial Coin Offerings for other blockchains such as Ethereum have provided a much more accessible entry point for people to explore crypto while also increasing the potential incentive for malicious hacks of extensive exchange infrastructure.
With the current administration showing a decided interest in regulating and taxing crypto assets, there will undoubtedly be more debate coming. As a result, the road ahead for crypto and the large-scale billionaire investors, celebrities, and everyday citizens will undoubtedly be bumpy, but where it leads is still unclear.
The digital landscape is becoming so diverse, and the possibilities blockchain technology offers are many that outright prohibition is all but a moot point now, but that doesn’t mean that regulations aren’t coming. And those shouldering the most considerable burden of risk are the ones with the most significant investments on the line, even if that line is digital.
This post is a short update going over the few things I was able to get done the last month. Dealing with personal issues has left me little time to plan and organize for via.eth. I’ve primarily been working on website updates and minor page layouts. Hopefully, things will calm down this upcoming month, and I’ll have more time to work on stuff like PayViaEth and community-related items. Please visit the site and community and give feedback.
Excluding the two sentences immediately following this one, I promise you this is a positive update; read until the end. Sorry, I’m late with the second update for the month of June. I had a lot going on this past 2-3 weeks and have had to spend my time dealing with personal matters. GR10 has started, and I’ve been in the process of updating some website elements and thanking individuals for their contributions. If you’d like to see a working example of Pay.Via.Eth, you can “Order” a download from the ViaEth.io site. While the website asks for a name and email for “Processing Purposes,” remember you can always download the code and check it out yourself from our GitHub. I’ve also added other “Products” so you can experience how the plugin would work on a live site with multiple products. I’d also like to add a couple more articles and info to the site to help fill out the content. If you have previously donated before, please consider donating again. Any amount helps tremendously. With minor content and its work-in-progress status, I’m amazed by the almost 8k visitors the site has had so far in June.
Thank you for all the support. We are doing good work.
The first update of June will be a short one. I’m currently working on getting bootstrap working in Pay.Via.Eth with the updated version of its codebase. The site has also reached a small milestone of visitors, and this most recent weekend has marked the first period where the site could be considered “Open.” You can view a demo of Pay.Via.Eth in our live store where you can purchase three products/services. I’m unsure when the next round of GitCoin will start, but I would like to have some actual code and fixes contributed before then.
The second project update will be disappointing to read for some people. I found a job! Unfortunately, I need food and shelter to survive, so I’ve taken a 9-5 web-dev position. Development of PayViaEth and any other projects under the ViaEth banner, while slowed down, is not canceled or stopped. There are only so many hours in a day, and I will have to devote some of them to life.
Progress: I am still checking everything in the git repo and working through the list of items included in the reply from the wordpress.org plugin directory. There are also some website-related things I need to take care of and prepare for the next GitCoin round. Hopefully, my timeline isn’t too far off. So I’ll need to take a moment to update it. If you have experience with WordPress plugins or PHP code, check out PayViaEth and submit a pull request!
I’m currently working on the alpha version of PayViaEth. I’m pushing ahead with some of the early bug fixes and plugin standards. I also want to get set up on wordpress.org to get the plugin listed in the plugin directory. In addition, I’m working on getting the website organized and ready for visitors and getting the formatting down for updates (Such as This) and other content. Finally, I’m still becoming familiar with the public Github tools and issue tracking.
My Progress.
All of my progress is public at the moment. You can check out GitHub for more info. The plugin is still in the alpha stages, but I’m making headway on listing and fixing some of the bugs. I would follow the “Alpha Fixes” milestone on GitHub for development tracking. I’ve also started working on NFT solidity code, but that’s mostly research, so I can’t give you a clear picture of where that’s going. I’ve submitted the plugin to wordpress.org and received a list of issues preventing it from being posted. You can get more info about this on the project Github.
Other Notes and Info.
For most of GR8 and some of GR9, I had to take a full-time position which is why I used a third-party programmer who worked with me to push out code pretty fast. You can find more info in the PayViaEth git repo hosted on GitHub.
I can not stress enough the need for shared scrutiny in the alpha stages. Please look at the code and open an issue for code lines that don’t fit into the world-class piece of Webware we are building.
I’ve also been going back and forth on handling version numbers. I want to keep it pretty simple and promote rapid development, so I’ll be using X.Y.Z with X being major (must update), Y being minor (feature updates), and Z being bug fixes. As I’m typing this, I realize I should somehow add this to the documentation.
