Vitalik Buterin Covers First-Ever NFT Issue of 'TIME Magazine'
The Ethereum co-founder is named “The Prince of Crypto.”
TIME Magazine has chosen Vitalik Buterin for the cover of its first-ever fully decentralized magazine. Best known as the co-founder of Ethereum, Buterin is arguably the most influential person in crypto today.
Ethereum’s native currency Ether is currently the second biggest cryptocurrency behind Bitcoin, with a trillion-dollar ecosystem rivaling the likes of Visa in transaction volume. Leveraging blockchain technology, Ethereum is paving the way for a new open-source decentralized internet that is known today as Web3.
In the TIME cover story titled The Prince of Crypto Has Concerns, Vitalik Buterin expresses a “mixture of pride and dread” at his creation. While Buterin sees the transformative power of Ethereum as a way to launch all sorts of sociopolitical reform such as fairer voting systems, urban planning, and universal basic income, the decentralized nature of the platform has also allowed for it to be used as an instrument for greed and other vices.
Buterin warns about the danger of overeager investors and the sky-high transaction fees. “The peril is you have these $3 million monkeys and it becomes a different kind of gambling,” says Buterin referring to Bored Ape Yacht Club. The full TIME story and video runs through Buterin’s upbringing and shares his vision for the future.
While this is its first full magazine issue as an NFT, TIME Magazine has previously ventured into the space through collaborations with Cool Cats, the release of past iconic covers through Superrare, and a special cover with digital artist Beeple. TIME has also enabled digital wallet integration for its website and is currently accepting Bitcoin for its subscription services.
“As TIME continues to push the boundaries as to what is possible within the web3 ecosystem, producing the first-ever full magazine on the blockchain seemed like a natural extension for our brand and we knew this issue, in particular, would be cherished by our community,” said TIME President Keith A. Grossman regarding the new release.
Vitalik Buterin’s full TIME Magazine cover story can be found here. Developed in partnership with LITDAO, the magazine will exist on the blockchain and holders can read the entire issue through an interactive NFT to be released on March 23.
Elsewhere, Naomi Osaka becomes Global Ambassador for crypto firm FTX.
