For more than ten years, @BoredElonMusk has been one of the most well-known figures on the Internet. It started as a spoof account and later developed into a larger platform: a sharp cultural commentary, creative experiment, and ultimately an entrepreneurial platform in the Web3 space.
Bored Elon has deep gaming roots and a long-standing commitment to exploring emerging technologies. He is not only a digital figure, but also a real-world advisor and builder, creating a unique identity.
Today, Bored Elon focuses on advising founders in the gaming, NFT, and cryptocurrency space, while exploring the possibilities of artificial intelligence and next-generation internet culture. We interviewed him to explore the evolution of this role, the importance of virtual ownership, and where he thinks the next wave of Web3 innovation will emerge.
Note: This record has been edited for length and clarity.
OpenSea: You've been playing "Bored Elon" for over a decade. How would you describe the character now compared to when you first started playing it? Do you think it's a character, or just an extension of yourself online?
Bored Elon: It's really not a character anymore, it's just a variant of the real person operating it. It started out as a complete parody, I even used the word "parody" in the bio. He's basically Elon Musk, only a bit extreme. Later, he was kind of parodying himself.
I think anyone who has written comedy or other forms of creative writing gets tired of writing the same thing. I just don't want to play a character anymore, I want to be myself.
So, although I have accumulated a lot of fans by playing the role of "Bored Elon", I only have this username now - basically the nerd behind the screen, who happens to benefit because the person he imitates now owns Twitter. I didn't expect this at all.
It's actually an enhanced version of me - a less risk-averse version, so I live in two parallel identities: one is the real person, and the other is the bored Elon, who lives online, mainly on Web3 and the internet.
Bored Elon has achieved significant success, and my career has been quite good as well, but ultimately, "Bored" became more successful and received more opportunities, so I am more inclined towards the "Bored" identity.
OpenSea: That's really interesting. Do you think the anonymity of the character, and the way it has shaped you, has enhanced your creativity? Or has it ever felt limiting to you?
Bored Elon: I think creativity is always limited at first, and the constraints of playing a character are really helpful, but eventually I don't need it anymore.
I often compare it to reputable anonymity - you can still lose your reputation, and I think that's a powerful motivator for creativity. It eliminates that fear of looking stupid. Many people are unwilling to try because they are afraid of failing publicly.
I'm not that scared in real life either, but the extra anonymity really helps. I tried a lot of methods, most of them failed, but some of them succeeded.
So I do think that having an alternate identity is a powerful way to allow people to be more creative and explore things they wouldn't normally explore because of shame.
OpenSea: Yes, absolutely. You mentioned this earlier, but in this inherently ironic world, how do you continue to create new ideas?
Bored Elon: I don't satirize others anymore, but tend to react to what's happening. Everyone on Twitter does this now. You're just looking at things from your own perspective.
It's like memes, you respond to what's happening in real time and try to be funnier than everyone else. Twitter is like a game we're all playing.
But my creative output is no longer limited to writing. I am now more enthusiastic about experimenting - creating something, games, Web3 projects, investments. Now action speaks louder than words.
OpenSea: I want to learn more about your company, Bored Corp, but first, I'd love to know what initially got you into web3 and cryptocurrency.
Bored Elon: Back to the origin of Bored - I started using Bitcoin very early, around 2013 or 2014, mainly for convenient global transactions and money transfers. After that, I basically didn't touch it again until 2021, when NFTs really started to rise, and Bored was born at that time.
What dawned on me was: I used to work in the video game industry, and I witnessed how much money, time, and passion people put into digital products, and "Bored Elon" is a digital identity - he can't own anything in the real world, but he can own things on the internet. What does that look like? It looks like a token.
So, the idea of virtual identity owning virtual items makes sense, which is why I jumped into Web3 to explore the boundaries of this concept. I think the rest of the world is catching up, and the younger generation that grew up in Roblox, Minecraft, and most video games already understands this instinctively - spending money on virtual items is perfectly normal for them.
OpenSea: When you consult for projects now, where are your interests? Is it to solve problems for founders? Or is it the technology aspect?
Bored Elon: Of course, it's technology, especially new technology. There are three main categories that I'm really interested in.
First, the intersection of artificial intelligence and games. I've worked in this industry for a long time and have seen firsthand how expensive and time-consuming it is to make games a reality. Therefore, I am very excited about how artificial intelligence can accelerate this process. What you are hearing now is the word "vibe coding". I have also tried this field by creating games myself. I hope to cooperate with companies that can shorten game development time from three years to six months or even less.
Second, mining. In the early days of cryptocurrency, most tokens were created through proof-of-work mining. I think mining will make a strong comeback. It can effectively prevent witch attacks. I think mining will become the next mainstream, especially for those projects that pursue decentralization and robustness.
Third, NFT as membership. I still think this is a huge use case. It used to be very popular, then it gradually cooled down, but it will make a comeback. Every company with a loyalty program, every club should have an NFT pass. I firmly believe that this will usher in a huge recovery in the next five years.
OpenSea: We at OpenSea spend a lot of time thinking about future use cases, which was a big draw for me early on, so, besides membership, what other use cases do you see gaining traction?
Bored Elon: I think art has always existed and will continue to develop. It's simple, it resonates, you see something, you like it, you want to own it, this simplicity works.
For me, another important area is games. We don't have many good examples yet, but I firmly believe this. Most video games are already selling NFTs - players just can't trade them. You can buy skins in (Fortnite) and items in (League of Legends), but they are all locked. The next step is to give players ownership and liquidity. I think this is inevitable, people just misjudged the timeline.
OpenSea: Absolutely right, I always think of the scene where Vitalik founded Ethereum after losing all his money playing (World of Warcraft). This story is deeply imprinted in my mind. Although the game was not a direct source of inspiration, it was indeed one of my earliest sources of inspiration.
Bored Elon: Yes, that's right. Speaking of games, (Grand Theft Auto 6), one of the biggest games in the world, has just been delayed until next May. I'm not saying they'll add some kind of game economy, but... if they can use this extra time to build more economic layers, that would be very interesting. That game will be the closest thing to the metaverse we've ever seen.
OpenSea: Cool! We talked about artificial intelligence and games earlier, but stepping back: Overall, how do you see artificial intelligence being integrated into everything today - especially in the cryptocurrency and Web3 space?
Bored Elon: I am very hopeful that with the rise of artificial intelligence, I feel that it gives people more autonomy, allowing them to turn ideas into reality - ideas that they previously could not afford or lacked the skills to create.
There's a cliché on Twitter: "You can do something right now", but it's true, there's a lot you can do.
I've been studying game design for many years, but the best I can do is develop board games. I can't program, but now? I can use the knowledge in my head to develop video games and use artificial intelligence to fill these gaps.
Even on a personal level, since our house was burned down by a fire, I have used artificial intelligence to handle insurance claims, legal matters, and mortgage communications. I don't have to hire a lawyer for everything, which really empowers me.
I think we'll see society split into two camps: one that treats artificial intelligence as a superpower, and one that doesn't. It will reappear like the internet, only faster and more extreme, or... we'll all be replaced by machines, who knows.
OpenSea: I've been thinking about this, considering the regulatory environment, what do you think of the changes we're seeing? Do you think these changes will bring more innovation opportunities to the United States?
Bored Elon: Yeah, I feel like everything swings like a pendulum, it feels like our previous environment was very strict - almost harsh - and now it's much looser.
This is good and bad. I think we will see some outlaws take advantage of this. I hope that in the next year or two, the pendulum can swing towards the middle - formulating clear and reasonable regulations so that people can build houses with confidence and understand what can and cannot be done.
This clarity will attract more builders back to the United States, rather than forcing them to go overseas out of necessity.
Besides regulation, on the other hand, the market is shifting towards empowering creators. We've seen this from the recent news about Apple, and how they charge developers for in-app purchases. If more value can flow back to creators, it can bring people higher profit margins and allow them more room to reinvest in their products.
So, from a legal and market perspective, I think now is the golden age for creators.
OpenSea: Yes, that's right. Can you elaborate on the Bigpool project you contributed to on Abstract?
Bored Elon: Of course, I have become a loyal user of Abstract Chain, and I believe that it is most likely to break through among consumers with its extremely high ease of use and focus on streaming content. Currently, one of the most popular applications and tokens on Abstract Chain is Bigcoin, which is essentially a digital version of Bitcoin mining.
Bigcoin does not use real computers and electricity for mining, but adopts a real proof-of-work system, allowing users to create virtual mines similar to farm towns and pay with Bigcoin tokens. A few friends and I were fascinated by this concept, and eventually we created a mining pool specifically for mining, which is larger and more atmospheric.
Bigpool is a collection of 833 NFTs, minted on Abstract for 0.05 ETH. Our current floor price is around 0.30 ETH. Unlike membership NFTs that have primarily focused on collections and whitelists in the past, Bigpool has a very specific use case, which is to empower people to participate in partial permissions of Bigcoin's largest mining operations.
Since the core contributors do most of the mining-related work... everyone can relax and hang out in the mining pool (our Discord), which contains some interesting details. Our website is:
https://bigpool.tech
OpenSea: Awesome! Thank you for sharing.
Bored Elon: I really appreciate it.
#Abstract #BoredElon #Bigcoin #NFT
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