It's a surprise because they aren't mining gold. They are mining CO2, with cute little certificates you can leave behind to prove to your grandchildren that Gramps was part of the problem.

There is no gold rush. Nobody's actually buying these apes. They're wash trades among insiders/friends for tax evasion/money laundering purposes. Maybe a dumbass occasionally bites, but they're not the bulk.

The market cap, volume, Github activity, PR/news are all lies; manipulated statistics because people look at them to judge credibility.

It wouldn't surprise me if the "$2.2 million theft" was friends of the owners stealing them so they could take a tax writeoff. Stolen 6 days ago, 2 days before the year ends.