If you have a little know-how on cryptocurrencies, you might know Vitalik Buterin is the creator of Ethereum which is the world’s hottest new cryptocurrency.
But that’s not all he is. Vitalik Buterin is a writer and a Russian-Canadian programmer. He is only 23 years of age, and his visionary project already holds a market cap of over $65 billion, which is great!
Started Early
Buterin has always been different from the people of his age group. While most little boys played matchbox cars, Buterin was busy with Microsoft Excel.
He was born in Moscow but was soon moved to Canada wherein he realized that he could add three-digit numbers twice as fast as the others of the same age. This is perhaps why the boy got a straight ticket to the gifted program, which meant a whole new world of learning opportunities.
Then One Day…
When he was 17, his father introduced him to the concept of Bitcoin. He found the concept quite interesting and started writing about it for various cryptocurrency news websites. He even co-founded Bitcoin Magazine, an online publication.
Shifting Gears
His curiosity for cryptocurrency was growing, and that’s when Buterin started investing more time in learning the concept. Finally, he walked in the footsteps of Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg and dropped out of the college.
He went on a world tour and met various developers in different countries to share the coding knowledge. He returned to Toronto a year later and then published his own white paper which proposed Ethereum in 2013.
The paper captured the attention of a venture capitalist Peter Theil who provided him a fellowship of $100,000 to work full-time. Rest what they say is history!
Buterin then co-founded a non-profit Ethereum foundation in Switzerland, and the foundation soon released their beta version in mid-2015.
Not Just a Digital Currency
The new cryptocurrency developed by Buterin, Ethereum, is not just a digital currency, but rather a blockchain platform which is capable of handling various tasks at a time.
For instance, the cryptocurrency is capable of featuring Ethereum Virtual Machine and contracts. It can also be used to execute smart contracts. This has its benefits. To begin with, the blockchain model provides a decentralized model which helps in enforcing and verifying the contracts digitally. Consequently, they provide greater security over traditional contract system, and that too at a reduced cost.
Buterin in China and Russia
Both China and Russia are known for their strict censorship rules. Despite all the efforts, cryptocurrencies are gaining widespread acceptance in both the countries.
Undoubtedly, this has a lot to do with the Buterin’s persona. Reportedly, he learned Mandarin within a few months using an app on his phone.
This might be one of the reasons why students and researchers are particularly passionate about Ethereum where it is being researched at institutional levels. Peking University, which is one of the best university in China, is creating an Ethereum laboratory.
Buterin is also very popular in Russia. In August 2017, more than 5,000 people assembled to listen to Buterin speech. Reportedly, he also met Putin during his visit and got enough support from the President regarding the usage of digital technologies in the economy.
Currently…
As of now, Buterin is living in Singapore and working wholeheartedly on his project. In the very beginning, just three developers were working on Ethereum protocols, but he believes that the team will soon be able to function without him.
Buterin is quite positive and passionate about Ethereum and is continuously working hard to make the cryptocurrency more scalable, reliable, safe, efficient and stable.
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