Vitalik Buterin became aware of Bitcoin at the age of 17, and at 19 he co-founded the cryptocurrency Ethereum.
Vitalik Buterin, the mastermind behind the Ethereum project , is one of the most notable figures in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. With Ethereum's steady price increase, Vitalik officially became a US dollar billionaire in early May 2021.
Vitalik began his involvement in the blockchain industry in 2011. Since then, he has contributed significantly to the development of Ethereum and the entire cryptocurrency field . In this article, TipsMake.com invites you to learn some interesting facts about the blockchain genius Vitalik Buterin.
1. Vitalik wrote the Ethereum white paper at the age of 19.
At just 19 years old, Vitalik came up with the idea of developing a cryptocurrency that was better than Bitcoin . The most notable change was that the Ethereum blockchain could execute advanced scripts called smart contracts.
These smart contracts can be executed using the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), a runtime environment capable of running complete Turing scripts on the blockchain. This is a major step forward, enabling the development of decentralized applications on the Ethereum blockchain platform.
2. Vitalik has been studying Bitcoin since he was 17 years old.
Vitalik's father is Dmitry Buterin, a businessman involved in various industries. It was Dmitry who taught Vitalik about Bitcoin when he was just 17 years old.
3. Vitalik is a prodigy.
Vitalik's parents moved from Russia to Canada when he was young. In third grade, Vitalik was placed in a class for gifted children. From a young age, Vitalik was interested in economics, programming, and mathematics. As a child, he could mentally add three-digit numbers twice as fast as his classmates.
4. Vitalik's net worth is estimated at around $1.2 billion.
As of now, Vitalik holds over 330,000 Ethereum. Based on current exchange rates, Vitalik's total assets are estimated at around $1.2 billion.
5. Vitalik is very good at writing.
Vitalik has contributed numerous articles and research papers to the blockchain community. He wrote about Bitcoin for various forums until he signed an exclusive writing contract for a blog. The blog owner agreed to pay Vitalik up to 5 Bitcoin per approved article.
Later, Vitalik also co-founded Bitcoin Magazine. Currently, it is a well-known magazine about cryptocurrency, and Vitalik still serves as its editor-in-chief.
6. Vitalik dropped out of college.
Vitalik, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, and Bill Gates have one thing in common: they all dropped out of college. In 2014, Vitalik dropped out of the University of Waterloo to pursue his dream.
That year, Vitalik received $100,000 from the Thiel Fellowship, a project that rewards 20 promising innovators under the age of 20. Thanks to this support, Vitalik was able to fully dedicate himself to developing Ethereum without worrying about finances.
7. Vitalik was once rumored to be dead.
On June 25, 2017, rumors originating from the 4Chan forum claimed that Vitalik had died in a car accident. This information caused Ethereum's market capitalization to plummet to approximately $4 billion.
Vitalik Buterin is not only talented but also very active in philanthropy. Recently, he donated over $1 billion worth of Shiba Inu coins (SHIB) to India's COVID-19 relief fund. Hopefully, Vitalik will make even more contributions to the blockchain community in the future.