To ensure that family and friends across the globe attended their big day, amid geographical constraints and safety measures under the COVID-19 pandemic, an Indian couple decided to have the first wedding of its kind in the metaverse, accordingto Business Insider.
Abhijeet Goel and Sansrati said “I do” on a scenic beachside venue hosted on Yug Metaverse with the wedding being executed and conceptualized by media agencies Matrimony.com and Wavemaker India.
The metaverse wedding coincided with the physical event happening in Bhopal, India last Saturday.
Per the announcement:
“Abhijeet and Sansrati created a scenic beachside wedding environment which could be accessed via Yug platform. The wedding had more than 500 registrations for the wedding. Users could change their avatars, walk through the event and enjoy the dancing floor too.”
Therefore, guests witnessed the union through their digital avatars.
Shashank, a member of the Yug platform, gave the 3D metaverse wedding a thumbs up and said:
“Metaverses like Yug are a logical evolution of the current 2D Internet to an Immersive 3D experience akin to the real world. Yug is an open platform where people can create their own experiences like marriages, virtual events, exhibitions, friends hangout, business meetings, and conferences or enjoy experiences created by others.”
He added that the platform could transform various fields like entertainment, commerce, business, and education through decentralization.
The metaverse is continuing to become mainstream in the modern era because it entails shared virtual worlds where avatars, buildings, land, and even names can be bought and sold, often using cryptocurrencies.
It seems the sky’s the limit for the metaverse because it is anticipated that 25% of people will utilize at least one hour daily in this virtual world working and shopping, among others, by 2026, according to research and consulting company Gartner.
Furthermore, William Quigley, the co-founder of the stable coin Tether (USDT), believesthat non-fungible tokens (NFTs) will be the revenue model of the metaverse.
In a recent blog post, Casa detailed how a man was lured into a dating trap in order to acquire his private keys.
It appears that not even Tinder is safe from the ever-present scams that seem to plague the Bitcoin industry. A blog post written by Casa’s Jameson Lopp, details a strange and dangerous attempt at stealing a man’s precious bitcoin.
The blog describes how a man simply trying to find a date via the mobile app Tinder initiated conversation with a woman who claimed to be a “cryptocurrency trader” according to her profile. The two exchanged pleasantries and eventually met up in person.
Beyond feeling like her pictures were slightly different from her in-person appearance, the date appeared to be straightforward.
It wasn’t until the two decided to go back to the man’s apartment that things turned sour. According to the post, “While he was there we suspect the woman laced our client’s drink with scopolamine, also known as ‘Devil’s Breath,’ or a benzodiazepine. These drugs are well known to cause loss of inhibition and memory loss.”
Beyond being exceedingly illegal in nearly every state, the act of drugging an individual is an invasion of their health, privacy and personal decision making. Indeed, the next act for the woman was to take the man’s phone, and attempt to gain access to it.
“Some time later, he believes the woman picked up his phone and asked him to show her how to unlock it and find his passwords,” states the blog post. It goes on to say, “Our client woke up the next day in his bed and noticed his phone was missing, though his wallet along with cash, debit cards, and ID were still there.”
The post goes on to detail that the man did indeed lose a small amount of bitcoin, although a relatively small percentage of his total holdings due to the multisig setup he had. Despite even the best security, under certain circumstances people can quickly lose the ability to defend themselves and their digital assets.
As this story demonstrates, not only is bitcoin increasingly becoming a target for thieves, but physical security is paramount to proper safekeeping of your bitcoin. In the transition to a hyperbitcoinized world, bitcoiners must pay careful attention to protecting their wealth.
Included in the blog post by Lopp is a list of known physical attacks against bitcoin holders, as well as a call for anyone who has experienced this to contact him, “If you have been a victim of a physical attack, especially one with novel attributes, I encourage you to contact us at incidents@team.casa.”
I encourage anyone who has experienced this to reach out as well, as the physical security of all bitcoin holders can be better improved by a collective knowledge of previous attack vectors.
Marriage during the dip can be maddening, yet enlightening. Here are some lessons I’ve learned from the last two bitcoin dips.
I have been married for just over a year, and few things have caused my wife and I as much friction as bitcoin. Financial fitness, or lack thereof, is one of the determining factors in relationships that either last or get trashed. So learning from your joint journey on the path to financial well-being is imperative for a rewarding relationship. However, if you’re like me and believe that Bitcoin could be the most important monetary invention in history, you’ve likely already experienced the stress it can put on your relationship.
As an unmarried chap for 31 years, finances were a simple equation with little to no funds left at the end of the month. In fact, as a full-time graduate student and part-time worker, it would have been a good month if I didn’t need to ask my parents for financial help, so investing wasn’t even a thought. Thus, combining my partner’s income with mine was a huge relief. But as Biggie Smalls so aptly said, “Mo Money Mo Problems.”
The first few months of our marriage were relatively quiet on the financial front. With no major investments to manage, we were fortunate enough to save up and become homeowners of a small condo in December 2020. Our mortgage became our biggest monthly expense by far, but we were able to manage and save a little at the end of the month. Bitcoin became a part of our lives in late February of this year, just two months after starting our house payments, so we certainly hadn’t found our rhythm with investing our extra money.
If you’ve been actively learning about bitcoin for a month or more, you can probably relate to the feelings of excitement and urgency that accompany falling down the rabbit hole. And if your partner isn’t as interested as you are, you can also likely relate to the tension that comes with developing your collective investment strategy. If checking the price multiple times a day is part of your routine, then you also understand the stress that goes with the dips.
For the purpose of this article, the dip will be defined as a bitcoin price drop that exceeds 10%.
A core principle among bitcoin HODLers is BTFD, which stands for “buy the freaking dip.” Now, this sounds extremely simple and reasonable, and it is, unless you’re walking on thin ice with your spouse.
In my particular case, I’ve pushed and prodded my wife to invest as much of our U.S. dollars into bitcoin as she can possibly stomach. So much so that she only agreed to make our last purchase if I agreed to make it the last bitcoin purchase for a whole year. And like a good husband and desperate bitcoin pleb, I agreed. This last purchase was during the recent dip on Thursday, April 22, 2021. And of course, promptly after I smashed the buy button, this happened:
Image source
So when I see that the price keeps dipping, I feel this man’s pain. I am confident knowing I did the right thing but tortured knowing I could have bought at a lower price. Alas, greater men than I have tried and failed to time the market successfully, and countless speculators have been rekt by aiming to leverage trades.
As a dedicated, albeit noobie, HODLer, I will not sell any of our bitcoin no matter how large the dip. But not adding to our position during an opportune time is difficult to say the least.
This last dip, prompted by a bomb from Elon Musk whose explosion was only rivaled by his last failed starship launch, has been more of the same as I watch while bitcoin whales and plebs alike gobble up cheap coins like Shiba Inus consume Pedigree.
Upon reflection, here are the top three lessons I’ve learned from the dips:
1. Listen To Your Partner
This is so much harder for me than it sounds. And a lot of my ability to apply this has to do with the media diet I consume. My daily diet has consisted of select Twitter influencers, online publications and podcasts. I currently subscribe to 12 bitcoin-related podcasts, and even the most level-headed hosts lead me to the same result: being extra hyped about investing in bitcoin. While I consider most of the content to be high quality and educational, the main takeaway from each episode is the same: I need more bitcoin! So it’s no wonder that my partner’s concerns about putting more money into bitcoin sound illogical to me. Her perspective is actually very prudent and likely saving our financial fannies from being unprepared in case we need to use some fiat for an emergency. Your partner’s risk tolerance will be unique to them and you will have to work together to land on a balance between your hustle and their hesitation. Listening more to your partner, and perhaps less to Bitcoin maximalists, will go a long way toward making sure you both have seats on your trip to the moon.
2. Trust The Process
The difficulty with being out of relationally agreed upon fiat during a dip is not knowing if the price will ever be this low again. This experience is intensified for me because I have never experienced the gains that bitcoin has afforded its earlier adopters. So I’ve decided that the best way to handle this dip is to sit on our stack and trust that “number go up technology” will ultimately win out. Bitcoin’s future prospects have never been brighter, and each passing day gets brighter for those who hold it in their portfolio. Here’s an article highlighting some of the most exciting aspects of this brighter future.
3. Be Grateful
Like the first lesson, this is easier said than done. The fact that I’m writing this article is undeniable proof that I lead an uber-privileged life and have “problems” that many would gladly take on. So stepping away from all the noise of the media is a vital part of remembering what I do have instead of obsessing over what I don’t. Going for a walk is one of the best ways to clear my mind and reflect on all the relationships and things I have to be grateful for. The other day my wife reminded me that value is so much more than numbers on a screen, and that the value of our relationship infinitely exceeds anything a monetary asset could afford us. In order to create more balance in my life, I will work on being grateful for one thing in my life every time I think or feel negatively about not buying this dip. Try this out and see how it helps.
This won’t be the last dip we see this year, and in all likelihood we’re still in the middle of a huge bull run. Here’s hoping this article helps you get through any episodes of dip drama that arise on the way.
This is a guest post by Josh Doña. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC, Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.
