The California wildfires have left a trail of destruction behind, counting among their victims Kevin Rose, the creator of the NFT firm PROOF. The fires notoriously ravaged Rose’s Los Angeles home, reducing it to mere ashes. Rose took to Threads, a social media platform, to share the harrowing footage of his obliterated residence and his neighborhood, charred and desolate. Scorched cars and homes, once brimming with life, stand as grim reminders of the wildfire’s fury.
“Sadly lost everything in the #pacificpalisades fires,” Rose wrote in a somber post accompanying the footage. “There’s nothing left.”
The wildfires, which ignited on Wednesday, have wreaked unprecedented havoc, obliterating approximately 10,000 structures. A significant number of crypto enthusiasts have faced severe losses, with the destruction of their digital wallets and loss of credentials. The disaster has claimed at least 10 lives, compelling the evacuation of nearly 180,000 people. Two of these wildfires have earned the dubious distinction of being among the top five most destructive fires in California’s history.
The catastrophe has spared no one, with many high-profile figures like Mel Gibson, Paris Hilton, and Jeff Bridges also counting their losses. The crypto industry in Los Angeles has been significantly impacted, with the wildfires posing a threat to companies and their personnel. Employees of the Santa Monica Bitcoin Office and Swan Bitcoin, located south of the Palisade and Sunset fires, have found themselves in the line of fire.
Rose, who founded PROOF in December 2021, is known for his creation, Moonbirds. He later sold the company to Yuga Labs, with the agreement that Rose would serve as an advisor to Yuga Labs during a brief handover period.
This is not the first time Rose has faced a significant setback. Last year, he fell prey to a social engineering attack leading to the loss of an extensive NFT collection valued at an estimated $2 million.
The California wildfires have underscored the vulnerability of both physical and digital assets, the latter often perceived as immune to traditional forms of disaster. As the fires continue to rage, the extent of the damage and the path to recovery remain uncertain. Amid the devastation, one thing is clear: it will be an arduous journey to rebuild what has been lost, both in the physical and digital realms.
