"Sorry, Carol": Why the refrigerator needs a crypto wallet - ForkLog: cryptocurrencies, AI, singularity, the future

# «Sorry, Carol»: Why the Refrigerator Needs a Crypto Wallet

We’ve figured out how crypto wallets for gadgets and the economy of machines will protect against corporate arbitrariness.

The story of a refrigerator that drove its owner to a psychiatric clinic sounds like a plot from “Black Mirror,” but it’s the reality of 2025. An advertising algorithm, accidentally matching the owner’s name, triggered a severe psychotic episode

ForkLog examined the details of the incident, user reactions, and how the concept of the “Economy of Things” and crypto wallets can safeguard mental health from corporate overreach.

“Someone is trying to contact me through the refrigerator”

Details of the incident became known thanks to a post by the victim’s brother on Reddit. His sister Carol, diagnosed with schizophrenia, had been in stable remission for over two years and led an ordinary life. The situation changed in a single day when she called her brother in a panic, claiming that “someone is trying to contact her through the refrigerator.”

The trigger was her own premium Samsung refrigerator (the model’s price ranges from $3000 to $5000). The device, equipped with a large screen, began broadcasting an ad for the series “One of Many.” On the banner, the phrase was displayed in large font:

“Sorry we upset you, Carol.”

Source: Reddit. The accidental coincidence of the series heroine’s name with the refrigerator owner’s name led to a catastrophe. The woman perceived the text as a personalized message from an invisible observer. This triggered an acute psychosis, a panic attack, and subsequent hospitalization.

What happened was not a technical error but a logical outcome of the Web2 business model. Even paying thousands of dollars for “hardware,” the user does not gain full ownership. The screen in the kitchen remains an asset of the corporation, a channel for advertising and data collection. In this scheme, the user is not a client but a resource

The Carol case revealed a serious legal and ethical issue. Digital rights experts note that such banners hover on the edge of legality. The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) requires that ads do not imitate personal messages

On the subreddit LegalAdviceUK, users emphasized: when a commercial ad appears on household appliances and disguises itself as a personal message, it misleads consumers and can cause harm.

Owners of premium Samsung devices are expressing widespread dissatisfaction that their devices are turning into advertising billboards. Many discuss a radical solution — completely disconnecting “smart” refrigerators and TVs from the internet, which deprives the devices of their built-in functionality.

The problem: users do not own their things

The Internet of Things (IoT) is built on centralization. Buying an expensive gadget, the user expects full control but gets intrusive marketing instead. A smart speaker, TV, or thermostat constantly connects to the manufacturer’s servers. This creates two fundamental vulnerabilities:

1. Censorship and intrusive content. The corporation decides what the user sees on the device’s screen. Turning off ads is often impossible or requires complex re-flashing, voiding the warranty.
2. Privacy leaks. Devices collect behavioral patterns. In Carol’s case, the system didn’t know about her diagnosis, but future integration with medical data and neural networks could make targeting even more aggressive and frightening.

The solution lies not in interface settings but in changing the economic model of human-machine interaction.

Web3 answer: the economy of machines

An alternative to the current situation is the concept of M2M. In this model, devices cease to be passive terminals. They become autonomous economic agents capable of conducting transactions.

To implement this scenario, refrigerators or cars need their own wallet and account. Traditional banking systems are powerless here: a bank won’t open an account for a toaster due to KYC requirements. Blockchain doesn’t require a passport, allowing the creation of addresses for any digital or physical entities.

How it works in practice

Imagine a Web3 refrigerator. Instead of constant connection to an ad server, the device operates on an open protocol.

1. Micropayments against advertising. The owner deposits a small amount in stablecoins or Bitcoin (via Lightning Network) into the device’s wallet. The refrigerator automatically deducts tiny sums (fractions of a cent) for receiving weather updates, recipes, or firmware directly from data providers. This eliminates intermediaries like ad networks. The customer pays for a clean interface and spam-free experience.
2. Sovereign identity (SSI). The device uses a decentralized identifier (DID) and verifies access rights to services without revealing the owner’s identity (using Zero-Knowledge Proofs). Advertisers technically cannot target content at “Carol,” as for the network, it’s just an anonymous address 0x….

Technological stack of sovereign devices

The industry is already developing tools to realize this scenario. The DePIN sector is one of the main trends of 2025:

• Peaq and IoTeX**.** Blockchain platforms specifically tailored for IoT. They assign unique IDs to devices in the blockchain (Machine ID), turning them into full-fledged assets (Machine RWAs);
• Account abstraction (ERC-4337). The standard allows programming wallet logic. For example, a refrigerator could have a monthly spending limit on paid, ad-free subscriptions. Once the limit is reached, it won’t show banners but will send a notification to the owner asking to top up the balance;
• AI agents $5 Fetch.ai, Ocean Protocol(. Local AI on the device analyzes incoming traffic. It acts as a filter )bouncer(, blocking any content that could harm the user based on predefined safety rules, not on the manufacturer’s commercial interests.

Wallet as a tool for mental health protection

The Carol incident showed that “free” content or subsidized services in premium tech have a high hidden cost — mental health.

In the context of the Internet of Things, cryptocurrencies cease to be a tool for speculation. They become a technical guarantee of ownership rights. If a device has its own wallet, it operates for the one who funds that wallet.

Transitioning to a model where household appliances pay for themselves )or earn by selling anonymized data at the owner’s discretion( is the only way to avoid a future where a toaster blackmails the user to watch an ad.