Vitalik Buterin was wrong about Bored Apes and NFTs

Seeing Vitalik on the cover of the famous Time magazine was a proud moment, for cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. For anyone following the crypto revolution closely, Vitalik is up there in ranks with Satoshi Nakamoto. Yeah, you’ll argue that. The mysterious bitcoin founder shed light on what can be achieved with the distributed ledger system, but Vitalik and his team expanded on these possibilities and proved that the blockchain is unlimited in abilities. With a team of other brilliant builders, he changed the course for blockchain technology and cryptocurrency. It doesn’t look like he is planning to quit anytime soon.

“Prince of Crypto”; I’m assuming this automatically acknowledges Satoshi as the undisputed King of crypto. Vitalik has been everything the blockchain represents. Quality, devotion, brilliance…you name it. Ethereum remains the most innovative and actively developed blockchain and as well, the most used. Vitalik’s brainchild is the most important addition to blockchain technology since Bitcoin.

In the interview with Time, he commented on important aspects of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency as it concerns the future. He took us through his vision for blockchain technology and the role it should actually play in our society. Doing that and without mention any particular names, he shared his views regarding ‘overpriced’ NFTs and the role they currently play in the space.

I’d rather Ethereum offend some people than turn into something that doesn’t mean anything. The danger is that you have these $3 million monkeys and that becomes a different kind of bet.

Hate it or love it, NFTs are already a thing. Relative to cryptocurrency itself, it has grown more in attraction and influence in a very short time. Mainstream firms who don’t even fancy the idea of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology have dived into the NFT space. Popular content creators have also jumped into the space. The ‘dumb’ money followed the hype and the NFT space have quickly turned into a gold mine for creators and clever collectors. It has also been met with scams and foul play, like every other concept.

Vitalik’s word are in fact the undiluted truth and as an NFT critic myself, I should applaud his comments. But, no. I’ll have to disagree. NFTs are obviously toxic for the space, but what isn’t? memeCoins, inferior DeFi projects, Pump and Dump tokens…toxicity itself is human. Every concept, regardless of how good they might be, is vulnerable to irregularities.

NFTs are not different. In the right sense; NFTs are a brilliant invention but just like many other concepts it has yielded to hypes and missed the initial goal.

Creating a digital proof of ownership on a platform where this proof is resistant to modifications is a game-changing idea. NFTs are in digitized receipts and a rather convenient proof of ownership. This in turn gives it a valuation equivalent to that of the real item. Certain NFT arts are way overpriced. If you ever tried to justify these prices, you will end up understanding the poor value system in that space. A hype or a boom? I think a combination of these two words best explains the current state of things in the NFT space.

In addition to the poor value system, NFTs are clouded with many issues. We discussed a few of them Here. Taking a look at these irregularities in the NFT space, Vitalik is just about right. However, I disagree on the ground of inclusiveness.

Unlike the current global system; blockchain technology is rooted in total freedom, or close to it. With power distributed equally and censorship resisted, blockchain technology offers everyone a platform to express themselves. It as well offers other member the freedom to react as pleased towards these expressions. Only restriction is on censorship. The blockchain is indelible and thanks to certain innovations by Vitalik himself and other ethereum developers; blockchain is a platform on which anything can be built by anybody.

This gives room for the good, the bad and the ugly…just like billion-dollar DAOs that barely function. NFTs are another of these concepts that have been met with disapproval from a tangible percentage of the community. While many frown at it, a good number levitate towards it for reasons best known to them. This fraction however represents a good portion of the ecosystem and retain the freedom the blockchain offers them.

Like a blank paper, the blockchain is a ground for every tree and every tree should be allowed to grow. Vitalik reserves the freedom to his opinions, but NFTs don’t defeat the goal…basically. They are in fact a very important role players in the community. The $3 million monkeys are obviously a product of hypes, but they have undoubtedly lured some mainstream personalities into this space. And for the least, they further expand the space.

If blockchain technology will grow to its full potentials, there’s need for these extremes and off-shoots in different directions. NFTs are currently one of these. In the future, we might see them evolve into real utilities, like the ones we mentioned Here. Regardless, they are still ‘important’.

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