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NFTs Apparently Came About Because Of A World Of Warcraft Nerf

NFTs Apparently Came About Because Of A World Of Warcraft Nerf

Ethereum and NFTs had an interesting beginning.

Imogen Mellor

Imogen Mellor

It turns out that World of Warcraft is responsible for the development of one of the biggest names in cryptocurrency. Vitalik Buterin, who is the founder of Ethereum, set off on his career path because when he was about six, Blizzard nerfed his World of Warcraft character. And no, I am not kidding.

On Twitter, user Zemnmez pointed out that Buterin's About.Me page gave us a look into what it takes to become a cryptocurrency creator, and that turns out to be frustration with nerfs. Who would have thunk it?

The full About.Me post says this: "I was born in 1994 in Russia and moved to Canada in 2000, where I went to school. I happily played World of Warcraft during 2007-2010, but one day Blizzard removed the damage component from my beloved warlock's Siphon Life spell. I cried myself to sleep, and on that day I realized what horrors centralized services can bring. I soon decided to quit.

"In 2011, searching for a new purpose in life, I discovered Bitcoin. At first, I was skeptical, and did not understand how it could possibly have value without physical backing. But slowly I became more and more interested. I started writing for a blog called Bitcoin Weekly initially at a meek wage of $1.5 per hour, and soon with Mihai Alisie co-founded Bitcoin Magazine.


"In 2012, I entered the University of Waterloo; in 2013 I realized that crypto projects were taking up 30h/week of my time, so I dropped out. I went around the world, explored many crypto projects, and finally realized that they were all too concerned about specific applications and not being sufficiently general - hence the birth of Ethereum, which has been taking up my life ever since."

I mean, frustration is a great way to motivate yourself, I guess? But it's hilarious that although there are a million little paths Buterin took to get to be the mastermind behind the NFT, the beginning was making his Warlock just a little less powerful.

Featured Image Credit: Ethereum / Activision Blizzard

Topics: World of Warcraft