How Tungsten Cubes Became Trophy of Cryptocurrency Fraternity?

These metallic tungsten cubes weigh far more than you might expect, and for some extremely online people, they have become a tactile, real-life dexterity.

Tungsten is one of the heaviest elements, and a 4-inch chunk of metal that can easily fit in the palm of your hand weighs a staggering 41 pounds. Picking up a cube feels like a violation of the rules of physics, and to fully demonstrate this property, a company called Midwest Tungsten Service sells tungsten cubes in sizes ranging from 1 cm ($19.99) to 4 inches ($2,999.99).

Recently, some novelty items have been able to become a hot commodity, driven largely by the interest of cryptocurrency enthusiasts. Jokes about supply shortages under the influence of cryptocurrency, and the strange speculative energy that permeates the entire cryptocurrency community around collectibles, have combined to produce an incredible surge in orders.

During this boom, which began in mid-October, Midwest Tungsten Service's popular cube sizes sold out. People began to wonder what was going on.

Nic Carter, a partner at blockchain investment firm Castle Island Ventures, describes himself as "the tungsten cube zero patient of the cryptocurrency industry." He has been buying cubes for about four years, for himself and as gifts for others.

Of the recent surge, Nic Carter says, "It's typical cryptocurrency stuff, taking interesting concepts and then massively taking the joke too far." He recently changed his Twitter display name to "nic cubeter." Part of what Carter likes about cubeters is their sheer physicality. He says, "I like the atomic properties of tungsten, the density, and the hardness."

This seems to be one of the main explanations for the sudden shift to the cube among crypto enthusiasts: maybe they just want something physical as a counterbalance to encryption. "We're dealing with this immaterial virtual world, what we call metaspace," Carter says, "and we're dealing with synthetic commodities and NFTs that have financial value but are completely nebulous. So it's good to get back to the atom."

Financiers have long sought a physical manifestation of their abstract work, perhaps a crypto version of the "trading toys" bankers get for IPOs and mergers. Perhaps in the world of financial abstraction, it is comforting to have something heavy to hold in one's hands.

But there is something else at work here. An online community that more or less mimics each other's enthusiasm, whether for a particular NFT or the joy of holding something heavy in your hand. "It's a very tight-knit community, everyone hangs out on Twitter and Discord a lot," says Dan Matuszewski, a partner at CMS Holdings, "It's a very big online community and they move together, so things quickly take off. It's a hive mind."

Midwest Tungsten Service, an unlikely winner of the recent campaign, is based in Willowbrook, Illinois, and describes itself as a company that "provides high-quality refractory metals". Their raw materials include tungsten, tantalum, and molybdenum, in the form of rods, wires, and plates. Founded in 1958, they manufacture aircraft parts, x-ray shields, and vacuum furnace elements in their factory.

Tungsten cubes have always been a novelty product. Sean Murray, who works at the company, says they have gone through a few popularity cycles in the past; they saw an increase in sales when someone made a YouTube video of one falling from a height and when someone posted a video about them on Quora.

"My colleague who came in recently got a voicemail from someone saying, 'Hey, you guys are blowing up on cryptocurrency Twitter, you should get involved there,'" Murray said. "I'm not a Twitter creator by any means. I've only tweeted a few times in my life, so I'm not used to it, but we're doing our best to engage with people who are excited about Tungsten, which is in line with our own goals." He describes his first experience with the tiny, strange, heavy cube as "like a magic trick".