cryptocurrency

 cryptocurrency  is a use of a proof of work blockchain to create exchange value, has been discussed at some IndieWebCamp sessions, and has in the past been used for personal tip page payments specifically using Bitcoin addresses.

IndieWeb Examples
None currently.

General criticisms

 * Feed of criticism: https://www.jwz.org/blog/tag/dunning-krugerrands/
 * 2022-01-27 NYTimes: How Crypto Became the New Subprime / "crypto ends up being an awkward, expensive way to do things you could have done more easily in other ways … The response, in my experience, tends to take the form of incomprehensible word salad."
 * 2021-12-31 The Case Against Crypto
 * https://inthesetimes.com/article/the-ticking-bomb-of-crypto-fascism
 * Criticism: thread: https://twitter.com/doctorow/status/1493288001107021826
 * "I've just read one of the most lucid, wide-ranging, cross-disciplinary critiques of cryptocurrency and blockchain I've yet to encounter. 1/" @doctorow February 14, 2022
 * ^ full talk for thread 2022-02-09 DSHR’s blog: EE380 Talk, based on 2021-12-08 Talk at TTI/Vanguard Conference titled: Can We Mitigate Cryptocurrencies' Externalities?

Not decentralized

 * Not actually decentralized, e.g. during an AWS outage: https://twitter.com/ndaxio/status/1468263956242440197
 * "Due to a global outage affecting AWS, we are currently experiencing an interruption with cryptocurrency deposits and withdrawals. There is no effect on trading or fiat deposits and withdrawals. We will post updates on this thread as we get them. Thanks for your patience!" @ndaxio December 7, 2021

Pyramid schemes

 * parallel to Albanian pyramid schemes: 2021-07-04 FT: Albanian lessons for regulators nervously eyeing the crypto world / Albania’s 1990s pyramid scheme debacle highlights risks of regulatory paralysis on the cryptocurrency explosion

Hype-based marketing

 * 2022-02-02 NYTimes: Why Is Matt Damon Shilling for Crypto? / Just buy it, he seems to suggest; what are you, a wimp? "Entertainers and athletes have ample money to risk in speculative bubbles; their millions of admirers don’t have that luxury and may be left holding the bag when a bubble bursts."

Unable to withdraw

 * Criticism: unexpectedly being unable to withdraw: https://twitter.com/Anthony/status/1483540705947668482
 * "http://Crypto.com, which froze withdrawals yesterday, announced that someone hacked the platform for $15 million in ether (4,600 ETH). This money is now being laundered through Ethereum mixer Tornado Cash in batches of 1,000 ETH  https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/01/18/cryptocoms-stolen-ether-being-laundered-via-tornado-cash/" @Anthony January 18, 2022

NFT criticisms

 * , law prof at Cornell: "The bottom line is that almost everything NFT advocates want to do on a blockchain can be done more easily and efficiently without one, and the legal infrastructure needed to make NFTs work defeats the point of using a blockchain in the first place."
 * 2021-12-20: Video summary criticism of what is an NFT: https://twitter.com/yuroon/status/1472962930677325830
 * "" @yuroon December 20, 2021
 * 2022-02-04 The Atlantic: Celebrities and NFTs Are a Match Made in Hell "If Hilton and Fallon and their celebrity friends are going to go out there and pump-and-dump their way to additional wealth, they could at least do the rest of us the courtesy of being a little more discreet about it. Instead, they sound like they think this is stupid, and like they think the rest of us might be stupid enough to buy in."
 * 2022-02-04 Vice: Racist 'Meta Slave' NFT Project Rebrands After Being Called Racist
 * 2022-02-07 Fortune: Wrath of the crypto bros: Buzzfeed attacked for revealing identity of Bored Ape NFT creators "Part of the controversy around crypto-asset vendors is that the use of fictitious identities throws the door open to criminal elements. Grifters can more easily exploit people’s fear of missing out on lucrative fads and get-rich-quick schemes, while money launderers use decentralized finance (DeFi) to conceal the origins of illicit gains from tax authorities."

Backlashes against organizations or products exploring or planning NFTs
 * Chaosium: 2022-02-16 Call of Cthulhu Maker Chaosium Suspends NFT Program After Backlash
 * Discord: 2021-11-10 TechCrunch: Discord pushes pause on exploring crypto and NFTs amidst user backlash
 * Salesforce: 2022-02-22: Fast Company: Salesforce employees revolt over NFT moves
 * Sega: 2022-01-10 gritdaily: Sega backtracks on NFT plans following backlash
 * 2022-01-10 nordot: Sega backtracks on NFT plans following backlash
 * S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: 2021-12-16 The Verge: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 will no longer have NFTs after fan outcry / The NFT plans came under heavy criticism
 * Team17: 2022-01-31 IGN: Team17 Nixes 'Environmentally Friendly' Worms NFT Project After Backlash / The cost of minting 100,000 NFTs will use the same energy as the average annual kettle usage of around eleven households.
 * "The Batman" movie: 2022-02-08 Fans Threaten to “Boycott” ‘The Batman’ Over NFT Controversy
 * Troy Baker: 2022-01-31 The Verge: The voice of Joel from The Last of Us steps away from NFT project after outcry

"the most boring form of art ever created"
Whether NFTs are here to stay or not, they are the most boring form of art ever created, centering value in nothing more than ownership.
 * Phineas Harper: 2022-05-03:There are far more radical forms of digital art than the cultural dead-end of NFTs

Owning art is the least interesting aspect of art. A great artwork might be pioneering in its use of media, arresting in its formal composition, or rich with symbolism.

First, those best able to profit from the NFT bubble are those already in command of substantial followings, like the famous musicians Grimes, Eminem and Snoop Dogg, who all recently released lucrative NFT collections. If there is cash to be made from issuing tokens, it will mostly flow to the already wealthy few rather than the struggling many.

Second, minting an NFT is not free, requiring makers to buy into cryptocurrency exchanges at their own risk like a pyramid scheme. For all the designers who have successfully cashed in on the hype machine, many more will lose out, predominantly those least able to do so.

Above all, NFTs erode the most radical and adventurous aspect of the internet: sharing. Sharing is a nourishing act of solidarity, fundamentally more enjoyable and resource-efficient than the kind of private, solitary ownership that consumerism promotes.