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Line Goes Up – The Problem With NFTs

Folding Ideas · 19M views · 2022-01-21 · 2:18:23

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Overview

Dan Olson's roughly two-hour video essay critiques NFTs, cryptocurrency, and Web3, covering their technical, economic, and ideological flaws. It is heavily sourced and ends with the advice to ask whether a project needs crypto to work.

On Hacker News

It is the go-to long-form critique of crypto that HN commenters recommend whenever skeptics ask for a thorough, well-researched takedown.

Recommended by 12 HN people across 6 months · HN mentions 2022–2026

Topics

CryptographyMedia, journalism & propagandaTech industry & business models
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What people said

mostlysimilar · 2023-03 · Strong recommendation

Not my favorite video from Dan Olson but still enjoyable. I highly recommend his video about NFTs, Line Goes Up: [VIDEO] So much time, energy, and resources wasted on this stuff when we have such bigger issues to solve as a collective.

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andreyk · 2022-10 · Strong recommendation

I've watched the video as well and wholeheartedly agree! His 'Line Goes Up' documentary about crypto is also exceptional; very critical but in educated and actually nuanced ways ( [VIDEO] ).

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crispyambulance · 2022-02 · Strong recommendation

They pretty much nailed it in the last paragraph... > Writing in the New York Times Adrian Chen noted as far back as 2013 that Bitcoin is built on a weird mix of speculative greed bolstered by a utopian cyberlibertarian ideology and likened it to a digital gold rush. Indeed, hyperbole continues to characterise all aspects of the crypto world. Crypto messaging does not appear to be directed at the rational or sensible. Adrian Chen's article... [LINK] Dan Olson's now epic "Line Goes Up" [VIDEO] ... a masterful takedown of crypotcurrency and NFT's, it also demonstrates what a shit-show this has all become. Much MUCH worse than in Chen's 2013 article.

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Sources

Video by Folding Ideas, played through YouTube.

Data and selection notes

HN summaries and labels may contain AI errors. HN dates refer to discussions, not video publication.

HN Library: HackerTube export (2026-10-31) and open-index/hacker-news. Upstream summaries and classifications may contain AI errors.

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