Photokeratitis, often termed "snow blindness" by climbers, is essentially an ocular sunburn resulting from prolonged exposure to harmful ultraviolet rays. This condition damages the cornea, the outer lens responsible for directing light onto the retina. Causes can range from extended snow trekking without proper eye protection to attendance at fading NFT industry gatherings.
On Tuesday, the creator behind the second most valuable collection of non-fungible tokens confirmed it received numerous complaints from Bored Ape NFT owners who may have sustained photokeratitis after dancing the night away at their Apefest last week in Hong Kong, only to then downplay their significance.
“Based on our estimates, we believe that much less than 1% of those attending and working the event had these symptoms,” the official Bored Ape Yacht Club account said, after “proactively reaching out” to its attendees.
Instead of using harmless black fluorescent lighting for effect, organizers appear to have used germicidal disinfectant lamps, either by mistake or through negligence.
These produce a form of UV light strong enough to kill organic matter at a cellular level and are commonly used in the food and beverage industry as a chemical-free method of sterilization. Their high-power bulbs likely burned the corneal epithelium, causing the pain.
Fixed the post for you pic.twitter.com/KcFSQzXU1S
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) November 6, 2023
Layoffs at premier NFT trading platform
Last week’s mishap is emblematic of a libertarian Silicon Valley tech bro culture more interested in taking shortcuts to make a fast buck than accountability.
This was best evident this spring after venture capitalists and founders sparked a historic $140 billion run on their very own bank before then demanding a government bailout to make their deposits whole.
Like the bulk of NFTs, the Bored Apes are a series of typically 10,000 generative images using a common theme “minted” on the blockchain by an algorithm and sold as investments and collectibles.
Prior to last May's crypto crash triggered by the implosion of Do Kwon’s TerraUSD stablecoin, the floor price for a Bored Ape eclipsed $400,000 with versions featuring more rare attributes trading for much more. VC giant Andreessen Horowitz ended up investing $450 million with Bored Ape creator Yuga Labs early that same year.
The Apefest injuries are only the latest low-point in a market for virtual collectibles that was a primary beneficiary of the Federal Reserve’s own digital money printer working overtime.
Just last week premier NFT trading platform OpenSea said it was eliminating every second job at the company amid plunging interest.
The scene became so synonymous with scams and "rug-pulls" that Yuga Labs and its affiliates put a disclaimer after their social media posts on X, a platform rife with impostors, to signal to followers that any further tweets are not the company but are likely spam or phishing attempts by impostors.
