The creator of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin, is one of the most talented, young, and influential people in the cryptocurrency world. In recent years, we hear more often about Buterin’s controversial statements and accusations against other people or organizations.
What could this be: a transitional age, a will to prove one’s significance, or a steady life position? We have analyzed the latest statements of Vitalik Buterin and are ready to answer this question.
What we know about Buterin so far
In cryptocurrency industry, it would be hard to find a more positive person than Vitalik Buterin. Born in 1994, in Russia, he almost immediately moved out with his parents to Canada. From the age of 10, Vitalik got engaged in programming and tried to make video games. In 2011, he found out about Bitcoin, and to support the rising industry, he founded Bitcoin Magazine. In 2013, he wrote and published a concept of the next generation cryptocurrency called Bitcoin 2.0, which later turned to Ethereum.
Then, there was a development and a consequent launch of Ethereum which takes a second place after Bitcoin today. It is also considered to be the most demanded platform for holding ICOs and creating decentralized apps. For his accomplishments, Buterin has already been ranked twice for the title of the most influential people in the business world below the age of 40, all according to the Fortune magazine. And if you look at the photo of Vitalik, you’ll see a modest and shy young man who donates millions of dollars for the researches in anti-aging solutions and safe implementation of AI.
Buterin’s conflicts
But there are 2 sides of the coin, and you may never know what hides beneath. Just like that, in recent months, Vitalik Buterin has already managed to appear in several scandals which he provoked himself.
It all began with a Satoshi Nakamoto impostor — Craig Wright, whom Buterin called crazy. Some time later, Vitalik accused Wright’s company, nChain, of a plagiarism. Then, there was a story with a public boycott of the Consensus blockchain conference in 2018. The conference is considered to be the most global one in the cryptocurrency field. It is also organized by the CoinDesk publisher. He accused the editorial office of unprofessionalism, and claimed that the prices set by the organizers were too high.
And the last but not the least is the scandalous statement of Buterin addressed to centralized cryptocurrency stock exchanges. He said he wishes for them to burn in hell for as long as possible. This statement by Vitalik was extracted during the interview with TechCrunch.
Is Buterin (al)right?
Let’s analyze the recent conflicts with Buterin. Surely, calling Craig Wright crazy was ethically incorrect, but how come the person who has tried to sell himself as the creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, was allowed to take part in important events in the first place. How can such person be taken seriously if firstly, he tried to deceive everyone, and then he couldn’t prove his words, and didn’t even think about apologizing in front of the whole cryptocommunity?
Regarding the Consensus conference 2018, the price of the entry ticket reached $3000, which was obviously too much. The 2018 conference turned out to be the first Consensus after which Bitcoin didn’t just raise in price but did the opposite of that.
The cryptocurrency stock exchanges are just as complicated. The industry basically receives its financing through these stock exchanges. Nevertheless, the idea of cryptocurrencies is to eliminate the third parties in terms of banks and governments, not swap them with crypto stock exchanges.
Conclusion
Buterin is gaining more and more influence, and he is starting to use it not only for the Ethereum development and promotion, but to stand up for the values of the cryptocommunity. The very values that were once planted in Bitcoin by its legendary creator.