Ethereum is the 2nd largest crypto by market cap, and its blockchain is much more versatile than Bitcoin, functioning as a world computer of sorts, and supporting smart contracts that enable anyone to run applications and spin up new tokens. The ethereum price usd has seen impressive peaks, and it continues to attract many investors excited to take advantage of the opportunities. Ethereum is the brainchild of Vitalik Buterin, who had exceptional abilities ever since he was a child, being enrolled in a gifted program in only the third grade.
He showcased excellent programming skills, an interest in economics, and incredible mathematical prowess. He got the reputation of a math prodigy, as, despite his academic talents, Buterin didn’t really participate in social events and extracurricular activities. He had some quite remarkable achievements throughout his career, and he was also recognized for his philanthropic efforts, with Buterin donating more than $1 billion in crypto to different charities in 2021 alone. He even created his charitable entity named Kanro, aiming to tackle the challenges that COVID-19 posed.
Vitalik Buterin – a central figure in Ethereum’s development
Vitalik Buterin is the public face of the Ethereum platform, and he contributes to its technical direction while continuously advocating for its widespread adoption. Buterin has a computer science background, and his programming skills were fundamental in creating Ethereum, and up to this day, he is a blockchain technology advisor and a thought leader. Buterin isn’t just a prominent figure in the world of Ethereum but also in blockchain and crypto, as everyone admires and respects his vision for the future of technology and his tech skills and knowledge. At 30 years old, Buterin became such a renowned figure in the crypto sector due to his constant contributions that he was compared to Satoshi Nakamoto (the creator of Bitcoin).
How did Buterin create Ethereum?
Buterin played World of Warcraft from 2007 to 2010; however, his game experience was altered once Blizzard, the developer of the game, nerfed his favorite character, and that was the moment when Buterin acknowledged the flaws in the centralized system, making him quit. In 2011, Buterin sought a new direction, and that’s when he discovered Bitcoin. Although he was initially skeptical about it because it lacked physical backing, Buterin slowly became interested in the workings and potential of the first crypto asset. Because he wanted to actively contribute to the industry, Buterin sought to acquire Bitcoin, but he didn’t have the necessary resources to mine or purchase the token right away, so he went on online platforms instead and started to write blog articles, which allowed him to earn around 5 BTC per piece. Buterin dived into the crypto landscape, exploring the political, technological, and economic dimensions, and his writings raised the interest of a BTC enthusiast based in Romania named Mihai Alisie. This is how Bitcoin Magazine was created, being co-founded by Buterin in late 2011.
Since Buterin spent more than 30 hours weekly juggling travel, writin,g and crypto work, he decided to leave university and began focusing more on traveling the world to research different altcoins. He realized that the projects had a narrow focus and weren’t versatile, and he envisioned a successful blockchain with more adaptability and more applications. Buterin further acknowledged the potential of the protocols already in place and relied on the Turing-complete programming languages to build Ethereum. Although he faced initial rejections, Buterin succeeded in developing the network and writing the whitepaper for Ethereum.
In early 2014, Buterin joined forces with a group of visionaries, such as Anthony Di Iorio, Gavin Wood, Charles Hoskinson, and Joseph Lubin, to bring Ethereum to life, and together, they developed an ICO campaign meant to finance the development of the platform and offer ETH coins as a way to raise funds. Interestingly, the campaign surpassed expectations and raised more than $18 million in Bitcoin, enabling Buterin and the other professionals to work on developing the Ethereum platform and introducing decentralized applications and smart contracts. In July 2015, Ethereum launched its initial implementation – the Frontier network – and ever since, the ETH ecosystem has experienced many upgrades, such as Metropolis, Constantinople, Istanbul hard forks, and the Merge, which played a role in enhancing its scalability and capabilities.
The journey of Ethereum wasn’t without its challenges
Vitalik Buterin has faced different technical challenges during the journey of developing Ethereum. The Ethereum platform is complex, scalable, and secure but has seen some technical issues. However, Buterin has tackled some of them to ensure smart contract security and balance decentralization with efficiency. Given the transparency of the blockchain, user privacy has been a significant point of discussion over the years, and offering transparency while maintaining anonymity has been a constant effort.
The Ethereum blockchain built use cases like DAOs and dApps, but the introduction of the former in April 2016 led to a significant setback. The DAO was designed to revolutionize crowdfunding, and it raised around $150 million in ETH, but its codebase vulnerabilities caused an exploit that led to the theft of 3.6 million ETH, which accounted for $50 million at the time. Buterin took action after this incident, deciding to fork the network as a way to stop the hack and ensure the stolen funds would be restored. However, this caused the Ethereum blockchain to separate into two different chains: Ethereum, which moved forward with the fork, and Ethereum Classic, which stayed on the original blockchain. Throughout that time, Ethereum became increasingly popular, raising the interest of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, which included more than 200 members.
Buterin’s ambitious vision for the future of Ethereum
Vitalik Buterin sees Ethereum as a platform that can be utilized for various decentralized applications, such as social media and financial services. Furthermore, he aims to make Ethereum reliable in the future so it can further power the creation of DeFi applications, NFTs, and DAOs, democratizing access to these services while also resulting in a more equitable world where everyone can use the platform, whether they have tech expertise or not. It’s indeed an ambitious and achievable vision, but it will take time until the network reaches its full potential. Without a doubt, Buterin’s commitment to innovation has been imperative in revolutionizing the blockchain landscape, and it will be exciting to see how the future upgrades will contribute to the network.
