Vitalik Buterin

Vitalik Buterin is a Canadian programmer who founded Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation. Born in Russia in 1994, Buterin eventually emigrated with his family to Canada as a child. His father was a computer scientist, and at an early age, Vitalik was put in a class for gifted children. Later, he attended the University of Waterloo and was a research assistant for cryptographer Ian Goldberg.

In 2011, Buterin founded Bitcoin Magazine, and in 2013, he published a white paper describing an alternative to Bitcoin, known as Ethereum. The goal was a software development platform and decentralised mining network that would allow for the creation of new cryptocurrencies and unite them under a single blockchain. Buterin had the idea for Ethereum because he wanted to leverage the power of blockchain technology beyond just payments and stores of value.

Along with his contributions to the cryptocurrency space, Buterin is also a philanthropist, with major donations to funds like the Machine Intelligence Research Institute (MIRI), SENS Research Foundation, and India’s COVID-Crypto Relief Fund.