The Super Bowl was yesterday and the actual game was kinda meh.

The halftime show, on the other hand, is already considered by many to be the greatest of all time.

We are inclined to agree...but Prince in 2007 might like to have a word. 

CRYPTO

You gotta hear about this scam

Yesterday, a thread circulated on crypto Twitter that not only reaffirmed the presence of bad actors in the space, but illuminated how advanced scams are becoming. 

The target: Twitter user @Thomasg.eth is the creator of Arrow, a DAO dedicated to the development of open-source VTOL aircrafts. He is not a crypto noob—far from it, actually—which is all the more reason why this almost-scam was noteworthy. 

Thomas’s early stage DAO, like many DAOs, welcomed any and all contributions from members. Two DAO members, the eventual scammers, built trust with Thomas through a series of helpful contributions. 

• Here is Thomas talking about one of the scammers: “I can't overstate how committed and authentic “heckshine” has seemed through this entire process.”

The scam: Throughout the trust building phase, the other scammer, Linh, had been updating Thomas about an NFT project she was involved in. She offered to send him an NFT that he could stake, an offer Thomas accepted. 

This is where Thomas made a very smart decision. Since it was a new project, Thomas opted to relocate the NFT to a new eth address before going through the staking procedure—a precaution he took just in case the project went south down the line. 

The reveal: After a few more interactions with Linh where she started to get incresingly pushy about him staking using his main wallet, Thomas's Spidey senses started tingling. He went to check etherscan for the new eth address where he staked Linh’s NFT and he saw something that he calls “truly terrifying”— a function that would allow the scammers to transfer any quantity of aWETH out of his account. Luckily he never approved the contract so he was able to doge any real financial damage, but just barely.

Thomas’s takeaway: “Always verify, no matter how much you trust. These guys spent two weeks targeting my own specific weaknesses, and I was extremely close to falling for it. You can't be too paranoid.” 

Bottom line: Hackers have advanced beyond the days of simply posing as IT support and asking for your seed phrase. From hacking Justin Kan's NFT project to the long con described above, the moral of the story is to stay vigilant and stay safe out there, frens. 

MEDIA

Binance buys itself some influence 

Despite a rocky start to their relationship, like Brennen and Dale at the end of Step Bothers, Binance and Forbes are suddenly best friends. In 2020, Binance sued the publisher for defamation, but on Friday the world's largest crypto exchange announced it was making a $200 million strategic investment in the iconic media brand. 

The funds will help Forbes proceed with its plans to go public via SPAC later this year, according to multiple reports. 

What’s in it for Binance?

One word: influence.

Binance CEO CZ Zhao was open about his motivation for the investment saying, “As Web3 and blockchain technologies move forward and the crypto market comes of age we know that media is an essential element to build widespread consumer understanding and education.”

Zoom out: As the deluge of commercials last night during the Super Bowl showed, the battle is well underway between crypto brands for consumer attention. How Binance plans to leverage this relationship will be interesting to watch, especially as Forbes' once powerful brand has lost some of its luster in recent years. 

QUICK HITS

Seed Round

Stat: If there’s one thing Bengals and Rams fans can both agree on, it’s that the holiday after the Super Bowl should 100% be a national holiday. Approximately 17.5 million people are expected to miss work today, adding up to $4.4 billion in lost productivity. 

Startup: You go to order some food, meet the delivery person at the door, the smells hit you as you open the bag…then, disaster. You got the wrong order. Agot AI is working to erase that feeling forever by using AI to a avoid incorrect orders. With Lunchbox, Deliverect, Orda, Zak, Sunday, and Margin Edge all announcing new rounds in the past few months, the restaurant tech industry is certainly a sector to watch. Read more about Agot AI here.

Rabbit Hole: The Chinese Tech Playbook for Winning

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON

• Netflix is making a docuseries on the couple who stole $3.6 billion bitcoin.

• Cathie Wood's ARK has bought more than $400 million of stocks over the past two weeks.

• Life Insurance Corporation of India filed papers to go public in what is expected to be India's biggest ever IPO.

• Coinbase's Super Bowl ad was so popular it crashed the app.

SOMEONE BUILD THIS

TRIVIA

8 of the top 10 most viewed TV broadcasts in the US have been Super Bowls.

What are the two non-Super Bowl events that snagged a spot?

MONDAY MUSING

Do we believe this? 

TIME WASTERS

Best Super Bowl ads from last night

• Coinbase threw it back with an old DVD loading screen 

• Michelob Ultra’s star studded bowling alley

• FTX’s great use of Larry David 

• Barbie’s bidding war

Unfortunately, no Bored Apes made an appearance. Or did they....

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(Or don't and impress people with your oddly deep understanding of the tech and startup space.)

TRVIA ANSWER

The moon landing and Richard Nixon's resignation speech are number 1 and number 10 respectively. (Source)