The Osaka Expo is electric—and at the center of it all is the Aptos-powered digital wallet. Over 133,000 new users! Half a million transactions in a week! It’s hard not to get caught up in the optimism. You can imagine how collecting those NFT “soulbound” passport stamps would make for a cool, Wallet-connecty, metaversal travel experience. And as for Aptos, well it’s a golden opportunity to show off its blockchain’s capabilities to a global audience. It’s a proof-of-concept, a real-world validation, a giant leap towards mass adoption—technically their third such leap. But hold on a second. Are we overlooking something?
Are We Overlooking Crucial Risks?
Think of it this way: the Aptos wallet and those shiny NFT stamps are a bit like a Trojan Horse. This is a dangerous, beautiful, seemingly harmless gift we have been given to the masses. Underneath is the complicated, frequently dangerous realm of crypto. The Expo wallet is friendly enough that you don’t need to know anything about the blockchain, let alone use it. Great, right? Wrong. That’s exactly what’s concerning — this ease of use, this lack of friction, should give us all cause to stop and reflect. Are we doing this without recognizing that our lack of understanding could be predisposing the most vulnerable populations to the crypto market’s predatory practices? Are users well-informed enough to enable the real-world value of these NFTs to be translated into user value? Are they being sufficiently educated about the dangers of purchasing, selling, or trading them?
We’re talking about people who won’t understand what gas fees are. They may be unaware of rug pulls and the volatile nature of the crypto market. Imagine grandma gleefully accruing her digital pennies. Only then does she discover they’re worth next to nothing, or even worse, that someone has hacked her wallet. The possibilities for fraud and abuse are endless and quite honestly, chilling! This is not simply a matter of digital mementos, it is a personal value of people’s tax dollars.
NFT Royalties: Ethical Minefield?
Let's talk royalties. For all the promise NFT royalties hold, Ahsan — a leader in this burgeoning field — would argue they could go either way. On one hand, they can offer creators a new route for a fairly passive income stream. On the flip side, they are opaque, easily manipulated, and truly unfair. What about the royalty structures for these Expo NFT stamps? Second, what are the guardrails around these operations to ensure that users can’t be preyed upon by other companies’ dark patterns? Are we really thinking about the future ramifications of inserting these financial tools into what is at its core, a digitized trinket?
Think about it: a young person from a South Asian community, perhaps visiting the Expo on a once-in-a-lifetime trip, gets hooked on collecting these stamps. Then they begin reselling them, seduced by the siren song of easy profit. But they haven’t been shown all the dynamics of the market, the costs of fees, or the ways in which they can be scammed. They are no match for predatory market-bending tactics, which will cost them money they simply don’t have to lose. Are we doing enough to protect these often overlooked voices? Are we doing enough to ensure they have the financial literacy required to make wise decisions in this new digital-age financial ecosystem? Or are we truly trying to create something that serves a purpose and not just badgering for adoption at all costs?
Social Good, Or Just Good PR?
The Expo is not just about attracting attention — it’s about innovation for the social good. Is this latest Aptos initiative truly fulfilling that role? Or was it merely a smart marketing tactic designed to spur adoption and drive up on-chain activity? The Aptos Horizon accelerator program, with its focus on Expo-related blockchain tools, looks promising. Who benefits most from these tools? Are they designed to be user empowering, or to just further solidify Aptos’s place in the Expo ecosystem?
To emerge stronger than before, we need to ask ourselves some difficult questions. Are the benefits of this new technology being shared equitably? Just to the extent that underrepresented communities’ needs aren’t being addressed. So the question is, are we looking at their potential for unintended consequences? This has deepened problems such as rising energy use and the creation of a new digital divide.
The Bitwise filing for an Aptos ETF, the speculation surrounding Pump.fun migration – all of this points to a larger trend: the relentless pursuit of profit within the crypto space. Innovation is important, and innovation is good, but innovation cannot come at the expense of ethics. We need to protect our most vulnerable and marginalized communities in the process. No doubt the upcoming Osaka Expo will continue this tradition and prove to be a powerful platform for positive change. We need to ensure that the Aptos NFT stamps aren’t a stealth crypto Trojan Horse. It’s important to provide a shield for unsuspecting users from hazards in a still emerging marketplace that users don’t yet fully grasp. Let’s recommit ourselves to raising the ethical bar with financial literacy and transparency. Let’s ensure that social good is better than good PR.
