Ethereum Spot ETF's Approval Highlights Its 'World Of Warcraft' Origins: Created Because A Character Had Its 'Warlock Powers Nerfed'

The cryptocurrency industry might be celebrating the greenlighting of the first-ever spot Ethereum ETH/USD ETFs in the U.S., but very few of them might be aware of the amusing origin story of the world's second-largest digital asset project. 

What Happened: Ethereum's creator and one of the poster boys of the industry, Vitalik Buterin, has been a lifelong advocate of decentralized systems—the technology forming the basis of cryptocurrencies and blockchains. 

But as eccentric or funny as it may sound, his closeness with the narrative began in his school days, when he was a passionate World of Warcraft gamer. 

Trung Phan, who co-hosts the Not Investment Advice podcast and authors the SatPost newsletter, posted on X, formerly Twitter, about the events from those days.

"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," Buterin wrote. 

BREAKING: The SEC approves spot Ethereum (ETH) ETF, making it the first ETF ever created because a character from "World of Warcraft" had its warlock powers nerfed. pic.twitter.com/2RLBaRBpxb

— Trung Phan (@TrungTPhan) May 23, 2024

This very event proved to be the turning point in his career. "I cried myself to sleep, and on that day I realized what horrors centralized services can bring. I soon decided to quit."

Why It Matters: This incident may appear frivolous, but there's no denying the fact that it unintentionally paved the way for one of the most disruptive technologies in the world.

Ethereum today is one of the world's most-invested projects, with a total locked value of more than $65 billion, according to DeFiLlama. Furthermore, it is the second-largest cryptocurrency in the world, with a market cap higher than top-tier public companies like Mastercard and Oracle.

Earlier today, it reached a new milestone after getting approval to list its spot ETFs in the U.S., the world's largest financial market.

While Ethereum may continue to increase its footprints in the near future, it won't be surprising to see the World of Warcraft story getting a legend status within the industry. 

Price Action: At the time of writing, ETH was trading at $3,800.76, following a 1% increase in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro. 

Photo by Kanchanara on Unsplash

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