My stance on cryptocurrency and Web3 has softened somewhat. The problem is not with blockchain technology. It's just another form of database, like SQL. The problem is that the blockchain - invented as an alternative to the capitalist economy - has became perverted by the worst kinds of capitalistic interests. (Before any tankies chime in: no, the solution isn't communism.) The environmental impact of blockchains pales in comparison to the environmental impact of manufacturing computers/tablets/phones, not to mention the impact of huge datacenters; however, I recognize the environmental argument as an easy way to prevent the average Twitter/Tumblr/Reddit user from contributing to the enshittification of the blockchain.
It's a technology that had potential, but ended up being misused and dragged thru the mud by some of the worst kinds of capitalists. Not to mention art snobbery was a big part of the first wave of NFT adoption (and said art snobbery, in turn, led to the current moral panic about "AI replacing artists"). The ugly ape PFPs came afterwards, as one of many capitalistic attempts to extract cash from consumers. Hopefully, the current "crypto winter" will restore some common sense to the community, and Web3/dot-eth will become another niche thing used mainly by Linux neckbeards, like Gopher, Gemini, and I2P. Admit it, barely anyone had a problem with crypto before NFTs came along.
Even I - yes, the same person who used to literally DOX crypto-bros during the height of the NFT media circus - didn't have any problem with crypto before NFTs were a thing. Back then, I just regarded it as a creepy but ultimately harmless neckbeard thing that I would refuse to engage/interact with on either side of the debate. But NFTs were a bad idea that, by association, ruined the reputation of technology that may have had some use, if only in geek/neckbeard circles. If they had been invented during the GeoCities era, then the Internet in 2023 would only be on university campuses and military facilities.
Art is good. The capitalistic art industry is bad. Remember that it was the art industry that came up with the idea of adding pictures to NFTs - IIRC, they were initially invented as a decentralized alternative to the ICANN domain name system. Once the art industry had exploited the crypto community - which, until quite recently, was mostly Linux neckbeards - for all they were worth, as well as irreversibly tanking the reputation of the underlying technology, they went on to tilting at a windmill, starting a nonsensical moral crusade against AI art. I could go on about how art has became a capitalistic industrial-complex nightmare - I really could. But that's a topic for another rant.