--- title: "Ethereum Founder Mocks Bored Apes, Which Are Built on Ethereum" description: "Vitalik Buterin, the founder of the Ethereum blockchain, keeps making fun of the Bored Ape Yacht Club — which is built on the Ethereum blockchain." date: "2022-08-13" modified: "2022-08-13" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/vitalik-ethereum-mocks-bored-apes" categories: - "Blockchain" - "Cryptocurrency" - "Ethereum" - "Future Society" tags: - "bored ape yacht club" - "nfts" - "the digest" - "vitalik buterin" --- # Ethereum Founder Mocks Bored Apes, Which Are Built on Ethereum ![Vitalik Buterin, the founder of the Ethereum blockchain, keeps making fun of the Bored Ape Yacht Club — which is built on the Ethereum blockchain.]() *DENVER, CO - FEBRUARY 18: Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin speaks at ETHDenver on February 18, 2022 in Denver, Colorado. ETHDenver is the largest and longest running Ethereum Blockchain event in the world with more than 15,000 cryptocurrency devotees attending the weeklong meetup. (Photo by Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images) \Image: Getty Images/Michael Ciaglo\* ## Aping Up The wild world of cryptocurrency has plenty of external critics, but it can also be marred by extraordinary infighting. As [*CoinDesk* reports](), Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin made fun of the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection — which, notably, is built on Ethereum **—** onstage at the Blockchain Futurist Conference this week in Toronto. As self-aggrandizing as it sounds, Buterin may have been right when he told the crowd that he and his fellow crypto pioneers were at the forefront of a "great battle between the authority of the nation-state and the desire for individual freedom" — a battle that is, per his telling, all but forgotten while today's Web3 acolytes go, "'Hey, look, it's a monkey!'" "The problem with crypto space is that it has great incentives," he admitted later in his speech, "but at the same time, it has incentives to go into very weird directions sometimes." ## Haterade It's pretty clear both from the "monkey" quip and Buterin's past comments about the BAYC that he's not a huge fan of NFTs. In [an interview with *TIME* magazine]() earlier this year, the Ethereum founder likened the infamous NFT collection to high-stakes gambling and bemoaned its "dystopian potential." "The peril is you have these $3 million monkeys," Buterin told the magazine in a clear reference to the BAYC, "and it becomes a different kind of gambling." "I don't hate apes," [Buterin tweeted]() the following week, "I just want them to fund public goods!" The man may not hate apes. But if his conference joke is any indication, he definitely doesn't love them either. **READ MORE:** [‘Hey, Look, It’s a Monkey!’ Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin Pokes Fun at Ape NFTs, Expresses Optimism About the Merge]() \[*CoinDesk*\] **More on NFT nonsense:** *[NSFW-Named NFTs Are On The Rise, Because Nothing Makes Sense Anymore]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()