Web3 Legal

Web3 legal insights, strategies and techniques.

The rise of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) has brought about a new wave of digital asset ownership. However, with the increasing popularity of NFTs, the risk of theft and fraud has also grown. 

In this article, I will explore the necessary steps and details that a victim, such as Jill, should follow after discovering that her NFT has been stolen from the popular OpenSea platform. While I use OpenSea as an example, most of what I discuss in the following article applies to most of the hosting platforms.

The first step in responding to an NFT theft is to gather and document all relevant information. This documentation will be crucial for any subsequent investigation and legal action. Here are some key pieces of information that Jill should collect:

Gather any evidence that establishes Jill as the rightful owner of the stolen NFT. This may include purchase receipts, blockchain transaction records, or any other documentation that links Jill to the NFT.

Create a detailed description of the stolen NFT, including its title, artist, edition number (if applicable), and any unique characteristics that can help identify it. This includes any screenshots you have of your NFT.

Document the timeline of events leading up to the discovery of the theft. Include dates and times of any suspicious activities or interactions related to the NFT.

Once Jill has gathered all relevant documentation, she should conduct her own investigation to gather additional evidence and identify potential leads. Here are some steps she can take:

Carefully examine her transaction history on OpenSea and other relevant platforms like 

 to identify any suspicious transactions or activities.

If your NFT has been stolen, delisted, or frozen on OpenSea, you should take the following steps:

In your subject line, write “Stolen NFT.”

Include the token ID, URL, and collection in the body text and a contact address.

Include as much information about how the NFT was obtained unlawfully as possible.

Keep an eye on various online marketplaces, including both centralized and decentralized platforms, for any listings or sales of her stolen NFT. This can help identify potential buyers or sellers involved in the theft.

Services like Blockchain Forensics can help you investigate and identify wrongdoers when it comes to more expensive thefts. 

https://cipherblade.com/blockchain-forensics/

Reporting the theft to the appropriate authorities is a crucial step in pursuing legal action and increasing the chances of recovering the stolen NFT. Here’s what Jill should do:

Contact local law enforcement agencies and file a police report detailing the theft. Provide them with all relevant documentation and evidence gathered during her investigation.

If the value of the stolen NFT exceeds a certain threshold or if there is evidence of interstate or international involvement, Jill should consider reporting the theft to federal law enforcement agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) or the Cybercrime Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Engaging legal professionals can help victims navigate complex legal processes and increase their chances of recovering their stolen NFT. Here are some legal steps Jill should consider:

Seek legal advice from an attorney specializing in cybercrime or intellectual property law. They can guide Jill through the legal process, help her understand her rights, and represent her interests in any legal proceedings.

If Jill identifies potential buyers or sellers involved in the theft, her attorney can send a cease-and-desist letter demanding the immediate return of the stolen NFT. This letter serves as a formal notice and may prompt cooperation from those involved.

If all other avenues fail to recover the stolen NFT, Jill may consider filing a civil lawsuit against those responsible for the theft. Her attorney can help her navigate this process and seek appropriate legal remedies. Litigation in a decentralized world can be expensive and complicated and I mentioned some of these challenges in this prior article. 

TOS agreements play a significant role in determining users’ rights and responsibilities on online platforms like OpenSea. It is essential for victims like Jill to review these agreements carefully to understand their rights in case of theft or fraud. Here are some key points to consider:

TOS agreements often outline dispute resolution mechanisms such as arbitration or mediation processes that users must follow before pursuing legal action.

TOS agreements may contain clauses that limit platforms’ liability for theft or fraud-related incidents. Assumption of risk provisions also limit the liability of host platforms like OpenSea. Victims should be aware of these limitations when seeking compensation or damages.

Review TOS agreements for provisions related to intellectual property rights, including ownership and licensing terms for NFTs. Understanding these provisions can help victims protect their rights in case of theft. It’s probably a good idea to take a few minutes to review the TOS agreements of platforms you use. Here’s the TOS for OpenSea 

Discovering that your NFT has been stolen can be a distressing experience. However, by following these steps and understanding your rights as a victim, you can increase your chances of recovering your stolen NFT and holding those responsible accountable.

Remember: Prevention is always better than cure! Take proactive measures to secure your digital assets by using strong passwords, enabling two-factor authentication, and staying vigilant against phishing attempts.

Due Diligence- How to Make Smart Decisions in the Web3 and Digital Asset Spaces

What to Do After Discovering Your NFT Has Been Stolen: A Comprehensive Guide

From Digital Dreams to Web3 Tangible Triumphs: 10 Revolutionary Ways the World is Morphing Before Our Eyes

Sfermion's Collider

Curated news and updates from the world of web3 and gaming.

Curated news from the world of web3, gaming & entertainment, AR/VR, AI, macro, and more

Sfermion's Collider #39

Onchain Alpha

Bringing you the Onchain Alpha every week. Produced by Mosaic.

A few months ago, the Mosaic team set off to create a new loyalty rewards platform. I'll explain why in more detail in a separate post soon.

Since the launch of MosaicDrops, we have been making steady progress, launching our rewards contracts and a refreshed claim site. 

To test out the loyalty rewards function, we planned three Alpha Drops. Each adding a layer of complexity and innovation.

first Alpha Drop was issued on August 23rd

The first drop introduce our new rewards contract on Optimism. The second previewed our open edition rewards capabilities. This third, and final, Alpha Drop now demonstrates exclusive rewards available only to allowed participants. The allow list for the third drop includes everyone who claimed one of two previous Alpha Drops.

We are inviting everyone who joined us on our alpha journey to claim this third Alpha Drop. They are a signal that you support our vision and building in public.

Alpha Drops are free to claim on Optimism. However, you will need some ETH in your Optimism wallet to pay transaction fees.

Have you noticed a pattern in the artwork?

Eagle-eyed observers may have noticed a pattern in the loyalty rewards artwork. We introduced Astro (a fictional character who traverses the Mosaicverse) in the first edition. We imagined Astro walking out from the Mosaicverse and towards your screen welcoming you to the alpha journey. The second drop sees Astro in between worlds, observing the wonders of the Mosaicverse and inviting you in. Finally, the last drop depicts Astro walking back into the portal that first brought him into your world. 

What awaits Astro? You'll have to wait to find out.

 and sign in with your wallet, switch to the Optimism network, and claim the loyalty NFT. You must use the same wallet from which you claimed one of two previous drops. It's free to claim, but you will need some ETH to pay for the transaction fee.

Make sure to subscribe to this newsletter, if you haven't already. We're continuing to work on MosaicDrops to bring you the best onchain loyalty rewards platform.

Plus an introduction to our exciting loyalty rewards platform

Announcing our Limited Edition Alpha Drop

DISCLAIMER: This article does not provide legal, financial, tax or investment advice. Always do your own due diligence and consult with an experienced professional for guidance tailored to your specific situation.

Imagine facing a lawsuit over a business disagreement and not prevailing. The party awarded the judgment will pursue you and your individual possessions. If you keep your digital assets registered under your own name, this party can lay claim to and seize your NFTs and Ordinals.

If you neglect to place your digital assets in your revocable living trust and unexpectedly pass away, these assets will undergo mandatory probate. This process will bring about high fees, costs, and expenses. The decision of asset distribution to your heirs will rest with a probate court judge who has never met you and doesn't know your wishes.

If you were to become incapacitated or face an unforeseen demise, who is aware of and can access your digital assets? Have you established an estate or business succession plan that ensures a trusted individual is informed and has access to all your digital holdings?

These are common issues we see and hear about all the time. They not only apply in traditional personal and business situations, they also are now happening with digital assets like NFTs and Bitcoin Ordinals. Fortunately, there are straightforward methods to prevent this situation.

The digital age has ushered in a new class of assets: NFTs, Bitcoin Ordinals, and other digital assets. As their value and significance grow, so does the need to protect them. Let's delve into the various strategies to safeguard these assets.

1. BUSINESS ENTITIES: CORPORATIONS AND LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANIES (LLCs)

Imagine your digital assets as precious artwork. Holding them in your own name is akin to displaying that artwork in your living room, exposed to potential threats. However, placing them inside a secure vault (i.e., a business entity) offers an added layer of protection.

A corporation is a legal entity separate from its owners, known as shareholders. It's like creating a distinct person in the eyes of the law, with its own rights, responsibilities, and obligations.

Limited Liability: Shareholders are generally not personally liable for the corporation's debts or liabilities. Imagine a protective wall between your personal assets and business creditors; that's the corporate shield.

Perpetual Existence: Unlike humans, corporations can exist indefinitely, unless dissolved.

Transferability of Shares: Shares represent ownership in a corporation and can be easily sold or transferred.

Centralized Management: Corporations have a structured management system with a board of directors overseeing the big picture and officers managing day-to-day operations.

Asset Protection: By holding digital assets in a corporation, they become the corporation's property, separate from the personal assets and liabilities of the shareholders.

Ease of Transfer: If you decide to sell or transfer your interest, it can be as simple as transferring shares, without moving the digital assets themselves.

An LLC is a hybrid business entity, combining the flexibility of a partnership with the liability protection of a corporation. It's like having the best of both worlds, tailored for smaller businesses or individual ventures.

Limited Liability: Similar to corporations, members (owners of LLCs) are not personally liable for the company's debts or liabilities.

Flexibility in Management: Unlike the rigid structure of corporations, LLCs can be member-managed or manager-managed, offering adaptability.

Pass-Through Taxation: Typically, LLCs aren't taxed at the entity level. Instead, profits and losses "pass through" to the members and are reported on their personal tax returns.

Asset Protection: Holding digital assets in an LLC shields them from personal creditors, much like a corporation.

Operational Flexibility: If you're a solo investor or a small group, the flexibility of an LLC might be more suited to manage and make decisions regarding digital assets.

Tax Flexibility: Depending on your jurisdiction and the specifics of your situation, an LLC might offer tax benefits, especially if you want to avoid double taxation.

Both corporations and LLCs offer robust protection for digital assets, but they cater to different needs and operational styles. While corporations might be better suited for larger operations with multiple shareholders and a structured management system, LLCs offer flexibility and simplicity, ideal for individual investors or smaller groups. Each state and country allow for different legal entities. For this reason, always consult with experienced legal counsel to determine the best fit for your digital asset portfolio needs.

An estate plan is like a detailed map, guiding your loved ones on distributing your assets after your demise. Digital assets, often overlooked, must be a part of this map.

A Will, often referred to as a "Last Will and Testament," is a legal document that outlines how you want your assets distributed after your death. Think of it as a roadmap that guides your loved ones on your final wishes.

Asset Distribution: You can specify who gets what, from tangible assets like real estate to intangible ones like digital assets.

Guardianship: If you have minor children, a Will allows you to designate a guardian for them.

Executor Appointment: You can name an individual (or institution) as the executor, responsible for ensuring your wishes are carried out.

Clear Instructions: A Will can provide clarity on who inherits your digital assets, be it NFTs, Bitcoin Ordinals, or other digital holdings.

Access Information: You can leave instructions on how to access these digital assets, ensuring they don't get lost in the digital abyss.

Probate: Wills typically go through probate, a public legal process that validates the Will and oversees the distribution of assets. This can be very expensive, time-consuming and might expose your digital assets to public scrutiny.

A Revocable Living Trust is a legal entity you create to hold and manage your assets during your lifetime and distribute them after your death. It's like creating a secure box where you place your valuables, with a trusted individual holding the key and a set of instructions.

Revocability: As the name suggests, you can amend or revoke the trust at any time during your lifetime.

Trustee Management: You appoint a trustee (often yourself during your lifetime) to manage the trust's assets.

Bypass Probate: Assets held in a trust bypass the probate process, leading to a quicker and more private distribution.

Privacy: Unlike a Will, a trust is a private document. Your digital assets and their distribution remain confidential.

Continuous Management: If you become incapacitated, a successor trustee can step in and manage your digital assets according to the trust's instructions.

Avoidance of Probate: Digital assets in a trust can be transferred to beneficiaries without the delays, costs and expenses of probate.

While both Wills and Revocable Living Trusts serve as vehicles to manage and distribute assets, they come with distinct advantages and limitations. A Will provides a straightforward way to outline your wishes but may subject your assets to the probate process. On the other hand, a Revocable Living Trust offers more privacy and flexibility, especially beneficial for digital assets. Often, individuals use both in tandem to create a comprehensive estate plan. As always, consult with an experienced attorney to tailor an estate plan that best suits your needs.

3. BUSINESS SUCCESSION PLAN: PREPARING FOR THE UNEXPECTED

Imagine building a digital empire and then suddenly being incapacitated. A business succession plan is your blueprint for continuity.

A business succession plan is a strategic blueprint that outlines how the leadership and ownership of a business will be transferred or transitioned upon certain events, such as the retirement, incapacity, or death of the current owner or key leaders. Think of it as a relay race; the plan ensures that the baton (your business) is passed smoothly to the next runner (successor) without dropping it or losing momentum.

Identification of Successors: Determining who will take over the business. This could be a family member, a key employee, or even an outside party.

Training and Development: Preparing the successor(s) to take on the leadership role, ensuring they have the necessary skills and knowledge.

Valuation of the Business: Establishing a clear method to determine the business's worth, which is crucial if there's a buy-sell agreement or if parts of the business are to be sold.

Transition Strategy: Outlining how the transfer of leadership and ownership will occur. This could involve selling the business, gifting shares, or other methods.

Contingency Plans: Preparing for unexpected events, such as the sudden death or incapacity of a key leader.

Clarity and Continuity: A succession plan ensures that there's a clear strategy in place for your digital assets, be it digital real estate, NFTs, or other digital holdings. This ensures they continue to be managed effectively and don't become orphaned or mismanaged.

Value Preservation: By ensuring a smooth transition, the inherent value of digital assets is more likely to be preserved or even grow.

Stakeholder Confidence: Stakeholders, be it employees, partners, or investors, will have greater confidence knowing there's a plan in place, reducing uncertainty.

Avoiding Conflict: Without a clear succession plan, disputes can arise among family members, partners, or stakeholders about the future direction of the business.

Preserving Legacy: For many business owners, their enterprise is a significant part of their legacy. A succession plan ensures that this legacy continues and thrives.

Financial Security: For businesses that represent a significant portion of an owner's wealth, a succession plan can ensure that the owner's financial security is maintained, especially if they're relying on proceeds from the business for retirement.

A business succession plan is not just about preparing for the end but ensuring the continued success and growth of the business. Especially in the digital age, where assets can be intangible and complex, having a clear roadmap for the future is paramount. As always, crafting such a plan requires foresight, strategic thinking, and often the guidance of professionals, including attorneys, financial advisors, and business consultants.

Tax planning involves strategizing to minimize tax liabilities while ensuring compliance with tax laws. When it comes to digital assets, tax planning becomes crucial due to the evolving nature of regulations and the unique characteristics of these assets.

Nature of Digital Assets: Depending on the jurisdiction, digital assets like cryptocurrencies might be treated as property, currency, or even a security for tax purposes. The classification can significantly impact how gains, losses, and transactions are taxed.

Capital Gains and Losses: If you sell a digital asset for more than you paid, you may incur a capital gain, which could be taxable. Conversely, selling for less might result in a capital loss, potentially offsetting other gains.

Mining and Staking: Earning digital assets through mining or staking can be considered taxable income at the time of receipt, depending on local regulations.

Record Keeping: Due to the decentralized nature of many digital assets, meticulous record-keeping is essential. This includes tracking acquisition costs, sale prices, and dates of transactions.

Holding Periods: In many jurisdictions, the length of time you hold a digital asset can affect the tax rate. Long-term holdings might benefit from reduced capital gains rates compared to short-term transactions.

Tax-Loss Harvesting: This involves selling digital assets that have experienced a loss to offset gains from other assets. It's a way to strategically reduce your overall tax liability.

Gifting and Inheritance: Transferring digital assets as gifts or inheritances can have tax implications. In some jurisdictions, gifting can be a way to transfer assets without triggering capital gains, but there might be gift tax considerations.

Utilizing Tax-Advantaged Accounts: Some jurisdictions allow for the holding of digital assets within tax-advantaged accounts, like IRAs. Any gains within these accounts might be deferred or even tax-free, depending on the account type.

Minimized Tax Liability: Effective tax planning ensures you're not paying more tax than necessary.

Reduced Complexity: Understanding the tax implications of digital assets and planning accordingly can simplify the often complex process of tax filing.

Future Preparedness: As regulations evolve, having a tax plan in place ensures you're prepared for any changes and can adapt accordingly.

Tax planning for digital assets is not just about compliance; it's about optimizing your holdings to ensure growth while minimizing tax liabilities. Given the rapidly changing landscape of digital asset regulations, it's crucial to stay informed and consult with tax professionals familiar with the intricacies of digital assets. Proper planning today can prevent unexpected tax burdens tomorrow.

5. BUYING DIGITAL ASSETS: PERSONAL vs. CORPORATE ENTITY

Direct Ownership: You personally own the digital assets. They're tied to your name and identity.

Simplicity: There's no need to set up or maintain a separate legal entity. Transactions are straightforward, and record-keeping is typically less complex.

Taxation: Gains and losses from the sale or use of digital assets are reported on your personal tax return.

Ease of Management: Without the formalities of a business entity, managing your assets can be more direct.

Direct Control: You have full control over decisions related to the assets without needing to consult other stakeholders.

Things web3 creators, entrepreneurs and business owners must know and do.

HOW TO OWN, MANAGE AND PROTECT YOUR WEB3 DIGITAL ASSETS

teleyinex.eth

Scam links pose a significant risk in the world of cryptocurrency, especially when it comes to minting new tokens. A few days ago, Vitalik's Twitter (or X, or whatever) account  was hacked, and a tweet message was posted:

The link is fake, but some people will not notice it because the Twitter card shows phony information, and people will try to claim it. Then, bad things happen.

Several red flags can help identify potential scam links. However, they involve a lot of effort, and usually, people will not check it. This is where wallets should start catching up ASAP because the safety of everyone is paramount, especially within the web3 ecosystem.

The trick in the previous tweet is that you can put any information in that card, so people can jump without checking anything. The subtle change of the domain is difficult to catch, and as this tweet comes from a genuine verified (sigh) account on Twitter, most people will trust it without double-checking.

Impersonating prominent people is one of the most successful vectors because people usually trust anything they publish. But when an account gets compromised, the links they publish should be verifiable so the users (or even better, the wallets) can double-check if the posted link is valid for the smart contract they are promoting.

Using GPG for signing and verifying minting links

In my head, the only feasible solution was to use GPG so creators, especially smart contract developers of NFTs, could sign their official site with their private key, and anyone could verify it using its public key. In this way, as users, we will be able to verify the posted link once we open it in our browser, or even better, before doing that, we could verify the link is legit because 

If the Twitter account gets compromised, they could publish a malicious link, but it will be much harder to sign the link unless they have hacked the user's laptop and password to unlock it. If we wanted top-notch security, this could be even "impossible" if the GPG key is stored in a Yubikey, as you will need again to steal the actual hardware and the pin to access it. 

While this sounds safe, I was missing the web3 approach to it. And then, I discovered 

Using attest for signing and verifying minting links

 you should check it out. This fantastic solution allows you to create, verify, and revoke on/off-chain attestations.

The exciting part is that you can create a schema that could be re-used by other projects and improve the security among the NFT community.

 site has several schemas that you can directly use. For example, a simple way of attesting links would be using the Website URL schema:

With this schema, then you can do an attest that can look like this:

With this schema, we can, as the owners of our NFT contract, attest the official link to our minting project. We will use our wallet address, the same that deployed the contract, in the 

 we will use the just deployed contract address.

Then, ANYONE can verify that the link is valid and safe because 

only the contract deployer would be the one attesting to a valid link to the contract she just deployed

This will be as secure as the wallet and the person who manages it. While soft wallets will be mildly secure, the best way would be with a hardware wallet or, even better, a multi-sig wallet. In the last two cases, only by stealing the hardware wallet and knowing the pin or hacking the multi-sig wallets would it be possible to publish a fake link to the minting site.

The best part of the attestations is that you can do them on-chain, so the wallets could verify this automatically when you are trying to mint to warn you or even forbid you to sign any transaction to protect you from fake links.

Now you might wonder: what if the link has expired, or if we want to change it? If the link has expired or has been updated, they can always revoke the attestation and create a new one with the updated URL.

Signing links could be the way to build trust within the NFT community, especially for those projects that have tons of users. When they have to publish a new project, they have to tell people to check retweets from other founders and double-check on Discord to know that the link is legit and none of the owners' accounts have been hacked (this has happened so many times on Discord that I've lost the count).

The process will be as simple as publishing the link and the attestation so anyone can verify that the attest was created by the wallet that deployed the contract and that the contract's owner is the attestation recipient.

Learn the best practices for secure minting and protect yourself from scam link threats.

Ensuring secure minting amidst scam link threats

Onchain Poetry Digest

Welcome to this edition of our bi-weekly Onchain Poetry Digest, where creativity merges with the blockchain in a symphony of words. Every edition, we dive into the vibrant ecosystem of decentralized and digital arts, exploring the fresh, innovative, and soul-stirring poetry etched permanently into the blockchain. From haikus that capture the essence of DeFi, to epics unfolding within the cryptoverse, our mission is to illuminate the poetic beauty being birthed in this groundbreaking field of the arts with you every two weeks. 

This month at Cryptopoetry community, we're celebrating the wordsmithing prowess of our new Cryptopoet of the Month: Emanuel Souza. His innovative poetry has brought a fresh perspective to this literary space. You'll find some of his newest work listed below, but for a deeper dive, we highly recommend visiting the 

 where you can explore engaging conversations around his and others' works."

Don't forget that you can become a member of the Onchain Poetry Digest Community, with an NFT to prove it. Check out the 

"ᴅᴀʏ ʙʏ ᴅᴀʏ ɪᴛ'ꜱ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ɪᴍᴘᴏꜱꜱɪʙʟᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴄᴏᴘᴇ ɪ ꜰᴇᴇʟ ʟɪᴋᴇ ɪ'ᴍ ᴛʜᴇ ᴏɴᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ'ꜱ ᴅᴏɪɴɢ ᴅᴏᴘᴇ ᴄᴀɴ'ᴛ ᴋᴇᴇᴘ ᴀ ꜱᴛᴇᴀᴅʏ ʜᴀɴᴅ ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜꜱᴇ ɪ'ᴍ ɴᴇʀᴠᴏᴜꜱ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏ ꜱᴜɴᴅᴀʏ ᴍᴏʀɴɪɴɢ ɪ'ᴍ ɪɴ ꜱᴇʀᴠ...

ꜱᴄᴀʀꜰᴀᴄᴇ | Foundation

When West visits East, what do we come in with? And what do we leave outside?

WOVE - West on Visiting East

Summer is extended here in the Northern Hemisphere. And as it seems there is no end to it, so I'd like to see the onchain summer going on for a bit. For that, a poem: As summer / is extended here, we / embrace the opportunity to / keep doing what we love: / build onchain.

Onchain indian summer

Them - Ndoro | Exchange Art

More fresh poetry and a Cryptopoet of the Month

The Onchain Poetry Digest XIV

epicdylan.eth

The official newsletter for the philosophy of T. Dylan Daniel.

The most recent release by Green Day has hit Spotify! You can now listen to three previously unreleased tracks that didn’t make the cut for the upcoming 30th anniversary edition of Dookie. This release follows a drop that happened last month of a 4-track demo version of the album. Let’s dive in and rehash some memories.

Listen to Dookie (30th Anniversary Outtakes) on Spotify. Green Day · Ep · 2023 · 3 songs.

Dookie (30th Anniversary Outtakes)

It’s always a wild ride to see behind the curtain when you’re looking at something you’ve been extremely familiar with for decades. The tracks aren’t in the same order and they aren’t really even the same songs! In some cases the lyrics are completely different from the ones you’re probably familiar with.

It seems like a thing that might be uncomfortable or difficult to understand but give it a listen and you’ll see what I see — Billie Joe Armstrong’s songwriting process. I’ll go into a little more detail about the special connection I have to this album (at least to the 1995 Reprise release of it!) later, but the upshot is that I really enjoyed the 4-track demo release. 

Burnout is fairly similar to the version you’re familiar with, so you might be put off-guard when you hear the rest of the tracks. I don’t want to spoil it because I know lots and lots of people really love this album and I think you’ll enjoy the demo more if it’s new and unexpected when you first hear it. 

Still, it’s a review — I have to talk about the highlights a little bit. So, here’s the compromise. Stop reading now, and go listen to the album, and then come back and finish reading the article if you want the full effect.

“Basket Case” is a completely different song — and it is every bit as good as the 1995 release! There’s also a little extra flavor, probably because we’re a bit deeper inside of the band’s creative process.

“She” is a little easier to understand in terms of vocals unless they’re just lightly rewritten, in which case I still don’t know all the words to the 1995 version of the song.

“Sassafras Roots” was probably my favorite song on the original album for most of my teenage years. The undertones of loneliness and desire were just the exact right frequency to tune out some of the bad feelings I had back then. And the melody.. Something about the song just intoxicates me even these days.

My favorite song for the early days was a shoo-in: “When I Come Around.” I actually learned to play the bass guitar when I was a kid for the simple reason that none of the bass players I tried to jam with had any idea what Mike Dirnt was doing and I wanted to be able to teach them. Hearing the version on this demo is like getting an even closer look into what was probably my first real favorite song.

“When It’s Time” is a track I’ve never heard before but it fits right in with all of the favorites on this spectacular time capsule.

Okay, so that’s the 4-track demo. Let’s get to the main course: the outtakes.

I’m hammering this article out at 9:30PM at a Starbucks the very first night I ever heard this album, less than 2 hours later, because of the connection I felt to the first track on this limited release. And yes, there will be spoilers, so go listen before you read on if you want to get the full effect.

Just like the 4-track demo release, the Outtakes are songs that haven’t made it onto Dookie in any form yet. They’re both extremely familiar and somehow also unexpected. 

“Christie Road” was a song on Kerplunk, an earlier Green Day album than Dookie that I listened to even after Dookie had become a little too popular for my taste. In this form, it’s clear the band had evolved a bit between the Kerplunk studio session and the Dookie one. It may have been recorded as a test or just because the band thought they could do a bit better with the delivery, but it’s not too different from the version you’re familiar with from Kerplunk.

Still, hearing this song for the first time in maybe ten years or so, I had a new thought when I was listening to it: this song is about a place. I don’t like the new Green Day very much because it is so difficult to connect with as a person. The band grew into successful famous people, and if there’s one thing the Replacements knew, it’s that success and money make you boring. You lose your edge because you’re not having to fight to survive every minute of every day.

Back in the 90s, there weren’t cellphones with portable maps of the whole world that people could carry around in their pockets and everybody had to meet up with each other out there somewhere. The insight that this song is about a real place and real people who really used the term “Christie Road” to designate a spot they could escape from some of the bullshit was really striking to me. More on that insight in the reflection to follow.

“409 in Your Coffeemaker” is completely new to me, and I really like it. I don’t really understand the song yet but 409 is a cleaning agent and not something I’d usually want in my coffee. Younger me would have really enjoyed the chorus of the song too, I definitely used to spend some time thinking about previous mistakes.

“Walking the Dog” opens up with a bong rip and has an air of just-for-fun to it. The guitar lines are classic blues and the recording sounds like it may have been live. It isn’t quite as poignant or introspective as the others but it carries a strong sense of the culture that gave rise to the band that would grow into an international sensation within a year or two from when it was recorded.

Thirty years. Thirty. Years. I still can’t believe it has almost been that long since I fell in love with this music. I have to wonder how many other kids, isolated in whatever ways, also connected with this album. I have very rarely ever connected with anything so deeply as with Dookie. I stared at the album art for hours, cataloging doodles while I listened to the CD on repeat. I guess what must have happened is that I created a bunch of pathways in my brain that have somehow survived all the living that happened between then and now. These songs are like a time machine that I can use to whisk myself back to, if not perfect, at least happy and good times before the onset of the insanity of adolescence.

Things have changed so much since Dookie came out. There are articles in top newspapers about how people don’t even remember how they spent their time before smartphones, which didn’t even really take off until Dookie was fifteen years old. 

I didn’t feel compelled to leave the sauna early and rush to a coffee shop where I like just to write to tell you what I think about some music, though. I think hearing Dookie was one of the most important, if not the single most important event in my childhood. I had loved music since I was old enough to hum along with the radio, but here was an album that seemed to understand how I felt. It’s even more remarkable to think that this intense emotional connection happened over a distance of thousands of miles, songs written by people who had never met anyone I had ever met and who probably had never even been to any of the same places as anyone I knew. That’s the power of music, and once I felt it the first time I never stopped looking for more.

I remember listening to Dookie for the first time. I’d heard some of the songs in my dad’s truck driving around town and he’d explained to me that “music like this is very important to lots of kids everywhere,” which I suppose he’d learned by reading the Rolling Stone. My dad was a punk in his youth — doing his part to spread the gospel of St. Joe Strummer to his friends and coworkers since the late ’70s. I’m proud of him, but despite having a stellar dad, I wasn’t supposed to listen to Dookie — and so one day, of course, while he was at work I swiped it.

I put the CD into a little boombox that was in my room and pressed play. I’m not sure what I’d been expecting, but this wasn’t it. It took a few songs for the effect to start to really kick in. I finished the album at low volume somehow, but dad didn’t say anything about the CD being gone and I was hooked. Every day after summer camp I remember putting that CD in and turning the volume all the way up.

I went to a church summer camp, and I started talking to the other kids about Green Day — they didn’t like it, and they didn’t want me to talk about it. So there I was, for the first time experiencing a connection with an art movement despite my relative isolation and sequestration in dry, small Lubbock Texas. I was ten years old.

What had happened was simple: a meme (the album) had propagated from the recording studio into my bedroom in a turn of events that would have probably been impossible mere decades before, and would certainly have been impossible before recorded music was a thing. The circumstance was equally unique due to the emotional salience all of this had for me. Here I was, a sheltered kid from nowhere slated to lead the most boring life ever and already fairly unhappy about it. I’d put this record on and it made me feel like I could accomplish anything. I’d bounce around my bedroom by myself as if I’d eaten a pound of espresso beans or something, and nobody I knew had even the slightest inclination to see what I was so excited about.

As time went on, punk rock became an integral part of my culture. I played the only gig with a live band of my life in 9th grade, covering Green Day’s “Brain Stew” with no vocals because our singer chickened out. It was scary to us, but we mostly weren’t in too much trouble — that and my friends were basically poseurs I’d talked into this. They both went on to be high school athletes and popular guys who did as they were told. That was okay, the next year I started high school (yes, Lubbock did 3 years of high school starting in 10th grade back then) and made friends with all of the other punks I could find in Lubbock — there were maybe half a dozen of us, and I only really remember spending a lot of time with two of them.

I didn’t start to identify as a punk rocker until high school had been in session for a year or two, but I’d always been a total nerd so I found that I had the unique ability to be an ace in the classroom while also getting into the culture I was interested in. We had a few bands who would play shows and I just remember going and seeing music I vibed with and vibing with the other people who vibed with it and just being friends with everyone by the end of the night.

Throughout my journey as a connoisseur of obscure music from a variety of genres, I’ve always at least put a little effort into listening to earlier material from bands I find via the normal channels. More often than not, especially with punk rock, you’ll find the grittiest, most down to earth stuff by looking at the early albums. Even bands like Rancid get a little more comfortable and it’s like their identity goes from an open question to being a solved problem. There’s something really special about the risks taken by bands on their way up, but before they separate themselves from their communities or get separated from their communities by money and comfort and getting older, the experiments that happen with all of the heart and commitment behind them are just really something.