Vitalik Buterin created Ethereum after his World of Warcraft character was cruelly nerfed, something he referred to as the “horrors of centralization.”
Summary
Buterin created Ethereum because of the “centralization horrors” he experienced with World of Warcraft
This is not news, but apparently the creator of Ethereum, Russian programmer Vitalik Buterin, reportedly chose to be involved in decentralized money after his character in the game World of Warcraft was cruelly nerfed, experiencing this event as a “horror of centralization.”
The Watcher.Guru account mentioned this on Twitter.
FUN FACT: Vitalik Buterin created #Ethereum after Blizzard nerfed his favorite 'World of Warcraft' character.
— Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) October 2, 2022
“FUN FACT: Vitalik Buterin created Ethereum after Blizzard nerfed his favorite ‘World of Warcraft’ character.”
And indeed, it appears that the founder of the smart contract blockchain par excellence described that event in a bio of himself, reported by other accounts on Twitter.
omfg… etherium was created as a cope for a world of warcraft nerf?? im losing my fucking mind. imagine being so mad you… what the fuck https://t.co/BX3rrWAtKk pic.twitter.com/4QXuWt6644
— 🌦 (@zemnmez) October 1, 2021
Buterin reportedly said:
“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.”
Buterin and the 7 years of Ethereum thanks to nerfing on World of Warcraft
Thus, Buterin’s reaction to the nerfing on World of Warcraft determined the degree to which Ethereum, which was officially launched in 2015, was decentralized.
And indeed, in its 7 years of existence, Ethereum has entered the crypto market placing second in market capitalization in recent years, with the idea of adding smart contracts into the blockchain world, thus incorporating other real-world assets such as stocks and properties.
The initial idea has since come to fruition by also opening the door to Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and into the current explosive market for Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs).
Incredible to think that if it were not for Blizzard’s nerf in WoW, there would be no such markets today!
The Merge: the latest big green move by the Russian programmer
Recently, Buterin said that the Ethereum Merge has reduced global energy use by 0.2%, one of the biggest decarbonization events ever.
This is the latest big green move by the Russian programmer who made Ethereum a Proof-of-Stake, and is expected to reduce Ethereum’s energy consumption by 99.9% and carbon dioxide emissions by 99.992%.
In practice, according to Crypto Carbon Ratings Institute (CCRI) it is as if the network now emits less carbon dioxide (CO2) than a few hundred US households during an entire year of electricity consumption.