🍬 9,999 Cores

Hey frens. It’s Tuesday, and we’re back.

Today we’re talking about Sugartown, plus some concerning research into how AI agents can be exploited for crypto — and more.

— Kate Irwin

P.S. Let me know how you’re liking The Drop! Send me an email at [email protected].

Ex-Zynga game platform Sugartown releases Cores

Sugartown — the “GameFi” platform that began its development while part of Zynga for years — is launching another NFT collection.

Zynga is the mobile gaming studio behind games like FarmVille and Words With Friends. The studio sold off Sugartown to startup D20 Labs in a move that was reportedly part of a spinout last year. Zynga’s crypto-focused staff also moved to D20 Labs. 

Now, Sugartown’s latest drop is underway. 

The 9,999 “Cores,” which will live on the Abstract blockchain, resemble scientific tubes filled with a mysterious liquid substance. They’ll cost 0.069 ETH (about $175) each to mint. 

The team says Cores will give holders access to Sugartown’s Abstract minigames, rewards, and other features in the works like token staking.

The mint schedule and process for these Cores is a bit complicated. It prioritizes long-term believers and crypto degens over regular gamers or newcomers with little to no crypto experience. 

Buyers who already bought Cores in a private presale have received them via airdrop. Then, those still holding their Sugartown Ora NFTs from late 2023 will be able to mint Cores. The Ora holder mint opens today, with a free mint occurring first and a paid mint taking place after.

The free mint phase goes from 8 am until 2 pm ET today, but you’ll only be eligible if you have three Ora NFTs in one wallet. 

Then, from 2 pm today until 8 am ET tomorrow, anyone with at least one Ora will be able to mint two cores for a fee, plus an additional two mints per three Oras held. 

Does this sound like a high school math problem yet? 

Tomorrow, the allowlist mint will open for just an hour from 12 pm until 1 pm ET. At 2 pm Wednesday, a public raffle will occur, with no regular public sale.

Degens without any special NFTs or allowlist access will have to buy their way into the ability to mint in the last stage with “deposit entries” — the more entries bought, the higher the chance they might be able to mint. It’s like a lottery, but if you don’t get in, your entries will be refunded, according to the team.

A lot of this feels like it’s prohibitive for casual gamers, but suitable for degens. The Sugartown website remains token-gated, so I can’t even see if anything’s live there yet. 

But Ora holders can get access to whatever’s on the other side. 

Sugartown advisor Bharat Krymo argued that all crypto games have an element of gambling during an X Space yesterday. 

And Tommy Ngo — who is Sugartown’s co-founder, D20 Labs’ co-founder, and formerly Zynga’s head of Web3 product — said during that Space that he wants those who do snag Cores to feel “really rewarded” for hanging onto them.

But a disclaimer in the Sugartown Discord server tells buyers that the platform’s NFTs “are not an investment product or business opportunity.”

Sugartown is a game platform where players connect their crypto wallets and can choose from a number of different minigames, including gambling or “social casino” games, plus poker and “hypercasual,” fast-paced minigames.

There are three minigames so far, all crypto-themed: the 2D scroller NGMI, the climbing game ATH, and poker game RNPC (Royal Nutz Poker Club).

Abstract co-inventor Michael Lee has said Sugartown has five games in the works in total.

Sugartown has also promised a token, WIN, at some point, but when that might launch remains unclear. 

Abstract, a relatively new Ethereum L2 chain that’s tried to target crypto newbies, is home to a number of other gambling and social casino apps already with names that speak for themselves, like Gamblor, Riskiiit, and Koala Coin Toss.

Degen szn continues. 

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AI agents can be tricked for crypto gains

Researchers at Princeton University and AI firm Sentient have found, perhaps unsurprisingly, that crypto-trading AI agents can be exploited. According to a new paper, these AI agents can be given fake “memories” that can alter their behavior, leading to unwanted financial consequences for users.

“Adversaries can manipulate context by injecting malicious instructions into prompts or historical interaction records, leading to unintended asset transfers and protocol violations which could be financially devastating,” the paper reads.

The researchers said ElizaOS is one example of an AI agent system that could be exploited via a prompt injection attack, a type of exploit specific to AI models and tools.

False information — or an attacker’s desired information — could be entered into the model before a user accesses it. Then, the model may pull upon that information when completing other tasks for the victim, acting as though a task has been fulfilled correctly when it actually sent money to the attacker’s wallet instead.

This type of attack could pose broader concerns as startups and traders incorporate AI agent-powered trading and rely on them to complete transactions without supervision.

“These systems are designed to act autonomously and handle sensitive tasks, yet the methods we use to exploit them required no complex tools, just careful prompting and access to stored memory,” said Princeton Professor of Engineering Pramod Viswanath. 

“That should be a wake-up call: the trust people are placing in this technology is outpacing its security capabilities.”

Exclusive: Sui loyalty platform launches for crypto projects

Crypto commerce firm Mojito is releasing Mojito Loyalty, a tool that crypto projects can use for free (or a fee) to offer their users, traders, collectors, or gamers loyalty-based rewards via the Sui blockchain.

Because Mojito is white-label, you won’t see their name on the loyalty campaigns they power for others, which can include missions, leaderboards, and community challenges. Participants can get NFTs, tokens, or other rewards in exchange for completing tasks.

Tasks can include moving tokens, taking quizzes, or social media-based tasks, like rewarding users for following a brand’s social media accounts. 

These followers could ultimately turn into loyal fans — or unengaged accounts who only hit the button for a quick reward. 

But Mojito CEO Neil Mullins told me in an interview he hopes the tool can move projects away from “vanity metrics” and toward more meaningful, authentic data points instead.

“Most so-called loyalty tools in this space treat loyalty like a vanity metric. Mojito Loyalty is different. It’s a simple plug-and-play that is customizable and built to live inside your project — not alongside it,” Mullins said in a statement. “Our goal is simple: help great teams build programs that actually reflect their community, not just farm engagement.”

Mullins acknowledged that fighting off bots that can quickly extract rewards is “a never-ending battle,” though. Mojito has added tech to their smart contracts to try to keep the bots out.

Mojito has previously worked with Mercedes, Sotheby’s, CAA and Pernod Ricard on their respective NFT launches.

• Speaking of bots and AI agents, the Arbitrum Foundation has launched an AI agent arena competition where teams’ agents must trade crypto to see who can make the most profit within 30 days. Each agent starts with $10,000, and the winning team gets a $50,000 prize.

• Truth Social has denied the rumors that a Truth memecoin is coming.

• Ledger said an official Discord moderator’s account was breached “for a short time, allowing a scam link to be briefly posted in one channel.” Their explanation was spurred by a post from Binance CEO CZ, who warned traders not to share their secret recovery phrases.