Help! I can’t take this abuse anymore.
The new hero: AO @aoTheComputer, by the Arweave team @arweaveeco@samecwilliams. And the story of frozen tokens.
In June 2024, I started farming tokens of a new project, AO, developed by the Arweave team. I won’t go into why I chose to farm or my opinion on the project—let’s get straight to the details.
Farming was simple: deposit ETH (then later DAI), give yield to the project and receive AO tokens on TGE (mainnet, transfers) scheduled for February 2025. The only requirement was to provide an Arweave address where the tokens would be credited—no other restrictions.
I hadn’t used the Arweave network before, so I looked for a mobile wallet that supported it. @MathWallet seemed to work. I took an address from there and made a deposit.
A few days later, I noticed I couldn’t connect MathWallet to see my earned tokens on AO site. So I picked a wallet recommended by the AO website: arweave(.app). I imported my keyfile from MathWallet into arweave(.app) — everything worked. Now I could see my stake on the AO website. Just to be safe, I bought a small amount of AR tokens, deposited them into my wallet, and tested a withdrawal—everything was fine.
So, then there was farming for 8 months. During this time, I occasionally checked the website to see my AO token balance growing.
February 2025: Mainnet (Transfers Go Live).
I was ready to transfer my tokens. But there was a catch—transfers were only possible from the Wander wallet. Okay, one more wallet—no big deal.
I imported my keyfile into Wander… error: “Key Length Too Short.”
Tried again—same error.
I contacted support, and that’s when I found out that because I generated my address in MathWallet, I was now completely stuck.
Support reply:
“MathWallet doesn’t generate a key length that works for AO. For AO, the key length needs to be 512 bytes. Keys that aren’t 512 bytes can’t sign AO transactions.
We block importing keys that aren’t 512 bytes because if you did import it, send AO or tokens onto AO to that address, you would not be able to transfer it off that address.”
Wait… What?!
AO’s deposit page never mentioned any restrictions on Arweave addresses (whatever that means—blockchains can be weird). It just needed an address, and the docs didn’t have (and not now) any warnings either.
I continued talking to AO support, and here are the exact quotes from our conversation:
Q: What’s the issue?
AO support: “Unfortunately, we don’t have a way to fix this currently. We have noted this issue, but it’s a problem with how the key is generated for the specific wallet you used to create it, and it isn’t compatible with the AO key standard currently.”
Q: What should I do? I followed the instructions on your website.
AO support: “This is honestly tough to answer. We are aware of it, but it may take some big changes to accommodate. I will report this to the team, but in the past, we haven’t had a solution for it yet.”
Eventually, AO support made it clear that this wasn’t their problem, since they don’t control third-party wallets. As a result, my tokens are permanently frozen.
Final:
“Unfortunately, we can’t control the different types of wallets created by third parties, or how they support AR.
....
This isn’t a mistake on our part.”
Reminder: AO = Arweave. So, the devs of Arweave are telling me they have no idea how addresses in their own network are generated?
Does that sound believable? The core devs of Arweave don’t know that wallets can have different key security levels?
Did they screw up? Or did they just not bother to list the restriction on the AO website? Even now, there are still no warnings in the AO interface, and farming is still active. The trap is still open.
Final Takeaway:
• I farmed AO tokens and followed all the rules listed on the AO website;
• I can see my AO tokens in multiple interfaces on my Arweave address;
• My tokens are frozen—I can’t access them because 8 months later from the start of farming, at mainnet launch, I learned that my Arweave address was somehow “wrong” or had a “short key length” (if you dig deeper into the keyfile);
• The $40K+ yield I paid to project? Of course, nobody is returning that.
I don’t have any demands or requests for the project, because I am completely defenseless. It is clear that this was not done on purpose. Just another huge disappointment.
Thank you for your detailed feedback on the @HyperliquidX testnet.
As a testnet validator, we agree with some of your points, such as the reliance on a single API for unjailing being a significant single point of failure. A more decentralized solution would certainly strengthen the network’s resilience.
However, there are areas where we fundamentally disagree with @ChorusOne .
Since validation became a competitive space and a business for many, the dynamics in promising networks have shifted. Validator sets in these networks have increasingly turned into exclusive clubs dominated by well-connected, well-funded entities. These groups, often benefiting from investments and connections, secure spots in “application-based” testnets.
This approach, which @ChorusOne seems to favor, inherently shuts out smaller yet highly competent validators who may provide superior services but lack the name recognition to even get a chance.
So if you are so worried about decentralization, you should be happy that other validators, not those who have a huge stake/big name in other networks, are in the network instead of you. Especially since they are in practice showing their performance/comptenece and their interest in a particular network rather than covering as many networks as possible.
The @HyperliquidX testnet breaks this pattern. It provides a level playing field where all validators have the opportunity to demonstrate their skills and ingenuity. Unlike closed testnets driven by reputation or "better cover letter" competition, @HyperliquidX rewards competency and community engagement.
Chorus, it seems, may have grown too accustomed to being part of these exclusive lists or "letter winners", to the point where competing in an open, merit-based environment has become uncomfortable.
We believe it’s entirely fair that testnet HYPE tokens were distributed to those who received mainnet airdrops—recognizing their contributions to the ecosystem and product. It’s logical and empowering for users of the product to decide which validators they trust with the network (don't forget that by choosing the wrong validators they themselves will lose out on the user experience, i.e. they have a direct interest in better choices and have the right initiatives).
Although we joined the testnet a little late and were not among the first chosen 16 mainnet validators, the support of our community and the HYPE they received (both in mainnet and testnet) allowed us to gain a strong place in the testnet validator set due to their involvement in the ecosystem and our overall contribution to the ecosystem.
This community validation approach seems much more equitable than systems where validators get places through private investment rounds/opportunities where there is no opportunity for anyone off the street to participate.
Conclusion: @HyperliquidX's testnet reflects a fairer and more inclusive model, one we believe should set the standard moving forward.
Disclaimer: As a validator, we’ve never purchased test HYPE tokens.
$GIGA is massively undervalued according to all metrics and will go parabolic in 2025
This is the simplest / most obvious / most normie-friendly play in Crypto History.
The next cult in my Top 10 Highest Conviction list is #RETARDIO
I acquired 1% of the Supply. In a world which is rapidly turning into a Clownshow #RETARDIO is sure to print numbers. Tokenized Fuck You.
One of my theses: Buy Coins That Get Funnier The Higher They Go
Retar Dio
🔹 **In the crypto world, there are very few opportunities for users to be heard by projects. We strive to help our users if we find their requests and attempts to reach out to the project logical and well-founded. Therefore, we ask you to support this post with a like and retweet to increase the chances of catching the attention of the zkSync developers! And thank you for supporting us. This wouldn't be possible without our followers!**
**This post is from a member of our community, whose arguments we fully agree with and support.**
**Part 1: Appreciation**
Dear @zksync!
Thank you for one of the largest (17.5% initial allocation, 66.7% total) and most decentralized (>695k wallets, >200 projects) airdrops among blockchains.
The new value-scaling approach for allocation calculation is a positive step towards more equitable recognition of user contributions to the ecosystem. The value-scaling formula effectively differentiates between genuine users and airdrop hunters.
**Part 2: Request**
As a victim of the @Era_Lend hack, I kindly request the recalculation of allocations using the value-scaling formula to consider the IOU assets of users in the hacked @Era_Lend contract. These assets were not accounted for in the airdrop calculations. I believe many users will be grateful if the @zksync team acknowledges the value of IOU assets in the EraLend protocol when calculating airdrop allocations.
Thousands or tens of thousands of users were affected. The total value of IOU assets currently exceeds $5.2 million (according to data on the old version of the EraLend site: https://t.co/K5GIGL8h3b).
**Part 3: Argumentation**
1. EraLend users were among the earliest users of ZkSync. ZkSync Era launched at the end of March 2023, and EraLend launched shortly after. The affected users were among the earliest adopters who invested and risked their liquidity in the early days of the blockchain.
2. EraLend was a significant part of ZkSync (by TVL), affecting many users. As of the hack on July 25, 2023, EraLend's TVL was $18.5 million, and ZkSync's TVL was $189.5 million, representing about 10% of the total network liquidity. Other protocols, including @overnight_fi USD+, were also impacted by the hack.
3. The destination of the hacked funds is unknown. The funds in the @Era_Lend protocol have been inaccessible for nearly a year (hack date: July 25, 2023) https://t.co/kjLb0oqSuo. Additionally, please do not grant any bonuses to the EraLend team and related wallets due to their inaction regarding fund recovery and their involvement in exploiting users. More details below.
After the hack, the team did not help recover any part of the funds (from the hacker, their reserves, or income from the new protocol version). On the contrary, one of the admins withdrew money from the hacked pool, preventing users from doing so.
During August-September 2023, funds were regularly withdrawn from the wallet https://t.co/5sfPaeY1rl. Liquidity withdrawals were executed in the block following debt repayments by users using the admin function _reduceReserves. These funds could have been withdrawn by affected users if not taken by the admin.
https://t.co/Ev4DXMeOx5 (link to a screenshot in the EraLend Discord from 16.08.2023 showing the wallet is the admin of the contract)
The admin's justification for withdrawals was:
"Sedgewick | EraLend — 17.08.2023 12:43
It's just the team withdrawing protocol fees from the reserve to cover the legal expenses associated with our efforts to recover stolen assets."
"Sedgewick | EraLend — 17.08.2023 12:46
Just to be clear, these reserves are not user deposits. Instead, they represent a portion of the protocol's accumulated income. It's all transparent: https://t.co/pT45xctMMt"
** Conclusion **
I sincerely hope the @zksync team finds time in this rush before airdrop, and manages to take the time and dive into the problem. And after that will make a decision, which I as a long member of the community will accept in any form!
Thanks!
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