Vitalik Buterin is the founder of Ethereum, one of the biggest blockchains in the world today. It is a free-to-use space for programmers, artists, and entrepreneurs to carry out their dream projects through the infrastructure of blockchain.
Childhood in Russia and early education in Canada
Vitalik Buterin was born in Moscow, Russia, and stayed there until he was six, when his parents decided it was time to go elsewhere in search of better opportunities. His father was a computer scientist. He was the first one to introduce Buterin to the concept of Bitcoin in 2011, when Buterin was 17 years old.
From a young age, Buterin was pegged as an exceptional student. He went on to do his schooling at Abelard, a private institute in Toronto.
Academic beginnings at the University of Waterloo
Buterin joined the University of Waterloo in 2012, taking a computer science degree. He was an apprentice under cryptographer Ian Goldberg, who was the former board of directors chairman for the Tor project. During his time at university, Vitalik Buterin would learn more about cryptocurrency as he took advanced courses to develop his subject matter expertise in computer science.
Editorial coverage of Bitcoin: From blogger to subject matter expert
He searched online forums until he could contribute to a blog in exchange for Bitcoin, keen to get his hands on some of the currency and be part of a new experimental wave. In 2011, he discovered Bitcoin Weekly, where he could write articles in exchange for 5 Bitcoins per post.
He co-founded Bitcoin Magazine in late 2011 with crypto enthusiast Mihai Alisie. The magazine began publishing in 2012. Vitalik was soon able to establish himself as an expert on blockchain technology and cryptocurrency.
The learnings he picked up during this time would give him the core idea for Ethereum, which he would publish about in a white paper titled “Ethereum: A Next-Generation Smart Contract and Decentralized Application Platform”.
In the paper, he explained Bitcoin’s technology and proposed a new form of blockchain, offering a fresh take to the first generation of crypto enthusiasts.
According to the Whitepaper, Vitalik Buterin conceived Ethereum as an upgraded version of a cryptocurrency with utility in on-blockchain escrow, financial contracts, and P2P gambling.
The founding of Ethereum
Vitalik Buterin dropped out of university in 2014. He was granted the Thiel Fellowship in the same year, a fund of $100,000 for people under the age of 23 who want to pursue non-academic interests. Before Buterin dropped out, he started working on an initial version of the Ethereum blockchain in 2013 with a team of developers.
He officially launched Ethereum in 2015, creating the blockchain as a space where developers can go beyond just creating a virtual currency and write their code for a project they’re excited about.
The project would then be hosted on the Ethereum blockchain, have its own token, and give the developers and stakeholders access to a new community of talent with whom they could collaborate at any time they wanted.
To help people launch their own projects on the blockchain, Vitalik Buterin created the Ethereum Foundation in 2014. The organization is a non-profit that advocates for Ethereum, supports various projects on the blockchain financially or otherwise, and hosts a community interested in growing the ecosystem.
In 2021, the value of Ethereum’s native token, ETH, skyrocketed to a price level above $4,500. Vitalik Buterin gained billionaire status the same year, primarily from holding the blockchain’s tokens.
Key upgrades, philanthropic donations, and Vitalik Buterin’s current role
Under Buterin’s leadership, Ethereum’s infrastructure has undergone considerable development. Since its launch in 2015, the blockchain has received 20 upgrades. It continues to retool under a team of developers.
Vitalik Buterin remains committed to various philanthropic efforts focused on life regeneration, Ukraine, and the inhibition of any artificial intelligence that could lead to human extinction. To that effect, here’s some of the sizeable donations he’s made to organizations in the form of Ether:
- $763,970 to the Machine Intelligence Research Institute.
- $2.4 million to the SENS research foundation.
- More than $2 million to the Methuselah Foundation.
He is a vocal supporter of Ukraine in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. Buterin has donated crypto to multiple charitable projects supporting the country.
Vitalik Buterin continues to occupy a key role in the evolution of Ethereum. He also manages the Ethereum Foundation with executive director Aya Miyaguchi and board member Patrick Storchenegger.
