Vitalik Buterin: the man who changed cryptocurrencies

Maths prodigy Vitalik Buterin became fascinated by bitcoin as a teenager. Now 28, he is worshipped as a near deity by crypto-enthusiasts.

Vitalik Buterin
Buterin is scathing about those who view cryptocurrencies as a wealth-making opportunity
(Image credit: © Valentin Flauraud/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

Vitalik Buterin’s remarkable looks make him an easy target for online hecklers: he’s been described as everything from “Bond villain” to “alien crackhead”. But at gatherings of the faithful, the inventor of cryptocurrency ether is worshipped as a near deity.

At a big convention in Denver in March, queues stretched round the block for days in anticipation of an audience, says Time. As the crowds pushed inside, “a wiry man with elfin features” was seen “sprinting out of the venue, past astonished selfie takers and venture capitalists”. Some gave chase on foot and on scooters; Buterin outran them all, “disappearing into the privacy of his hotel lobby, alone”.

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Jane writes profiles for MoneyWeek and is city editor of The Week. A former British Society of Magazine Editors editor of the year, she cut her teeth in journalism editing The Daily Telegraph’s Letters page and writing gossip for the London Evening Standard – while contributing to a kaleidoscopic range of business magazines including Personnel Today, Edge, Microscope, Computing, PC Business World, and Business & Finance.

She has edited corporate publications for accountants BDO, business psychologists YSC Consulting, and the law firm Stephenson Harwood – also enjoying a stint as a researcher for the due diligence department of a global risk advisory firm.

Her sole book to date, Stay or Go? (2016), rehearsed the arguments on both sides of the EU referendum.

She lives in north London, has a degree in modern history from Trinity College, Oxford, and is currently learning to play the drums.