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Pretty sure NAT was standardized before IPv6.

NAT is RFC 1631.

IPv6 is RFC 1883.

Admitted, that was very basic NAT.

RFC 1631 is a memo, not a standard.

Actually, my bad. NAT was NEVER standardized. Not only NAT was never standardized, it’s never even been on standards track. RFC 3022 is also just “Informational”

Plus, RFC 1918 doesn’t even mention NAT

So yes, NAT is a bug in history that has no right to exist. The people who invented it clearly never stopped to think on whether they should, so here we are 30 years later.

If only the inventors of NAT had patented it and then refused to license it!

That doesn't really mean much. Basic NAT wasn't eligible to be on the standards track as it isn't a protocol. Same reason firewall RFCs are informational or BCP.

The protocols involving NAT are what end up on the standards track like FTP extensions for NAT (RFC 2428), STUN (RFC 3489), etc.

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