MoonCats, the long-dormant collectible platform that was rediscovered earlier this month, now has a problem on its hands – trading bots.
MoonCats collectibles depict 8-bit cats that live on the moon and can be exchanged or “adopted” by users. The project was launched on August 9, 2017 by developer Ponderware, with a hard limit of 25,500 MoonCats set to be created through a process similar to Ethereum mining.
However, the MoonCats community now fears that the next release of the final 160 Genesis cats could be hijacked by commercial bots, with users complaining that Mooncats has been invaded by bots programmed to accumulate new cats at the time they can be purchased.
MoonCats was rediscovered earlier this month amid the fast-growing NFT industry. When collectors recently became aware of the project, MoonCats NFTs were reported to cost between $ 50 to $ 200. However, prices rose rapidly, with MoonCats now trading for 1 ETH on average.
The most sought after breed of tokenized space cats are the “Genesis MoonCats” – tokens that were among the first 256 mined on the platform. A Genesis MoonCat was sold for 100 ETH worth approximately $ 180,000 earlier this month.
With the last 160 Genesis cats awaiting launch and the MoonCats community fearing they can be bought by bots, Ponderware expects the MoonCats community to decide how to proceed next.
On March 17, the developer launched a smart contract survey for MoonCats users asking, “Should MoonCatRescue developers destroy your private key so that no future Genesis MoonCats can be released?”
A “yes” result will prevent Genesis MoonCats from being released in the future, as the private key of the wallet containing the cats will be deleted. A “no” result will see the private key preserved and further discussions between Ponderware and the MoonCats community to establish a “fair” method for distributing the final Genesis cats. The developer declared:
“Fair distribution of these cats can be technically, socially and / or economically impossible. We will work with the community to meet the challenge, but it is likely to be a complex and time-consuming issue.”
At the time of writing, the survey shows that 72% of respondents are in favor of destroying the private key, while 28% are against it.
Bots have been causing problems in the NFT space for many months. On February 26, the NBA Top Shot was forced to delay the launch of its Premium Package due to the high levels of botting activity on the platform. Dapper Lab CEO Roham Gharegozlou addressed the delay, noting that the company is not interested in quick sales generated by trading bots.
every decision has compensations and we will always prioritize the true fans – I’m sorry for the delay in delivery today, I know that more than 100 thousand of you were super excited, but for many this will be the first rare package delivery @nba_topshot – we didn’t want a super fast sale, but unfair https://t.co/6npaHKbd92
– Roham (@rohamg) February 25, 2021
In March 2020, the Ethereum-based collectible game, Axie Infinity, sought to discipline bot activity by issuing 30-day bans on all accounts associated with the use of bots.