Vitalik Buterin facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Vitalik Buterin
Виталик Бутерин
Buterin in 2015
Born	Vitaly Dmitrievich Buterin (1994-01-31) 31 January 1994 (age 31) Kolomna, Russia
Education	University of Waterloo
Known for	Ethereum, Bitcoin Magazine
Awards	Thiel Fellowship
Scientific career
Fields	Digital contracts, digital currencies, game theory

Vitalik Buterin (born January 31, 1994) is a Canadian computer programmer. He is famous for being one of the people who started Ethereum. Ethereum is like a special computer network that lets people create new digital money and programs.

Vitalik got involved with cryptocurrency very early on. He helped start Bitcoin Magazine in 2011. In 2015, he launched the Ethereum blockchain with other co-founders. A blockchain is like a super secure digital record book.

Early Life and Learning

Vitalik Buterin was born in Kolomna, Russia. His dad was a computer scientist. When Vitalik was six, his family moved to Canada for better job chances.

In Canada, Vitalik was placed in a class for gifted children. He really liked math, computer programming, and economics. When he was 17, his father told him about Bitcoin.

After high school, Vitalik went to the University of Waterloo. He took advanced classes there. In 2012, he won a bronze medal in a big computer science competition in Italy.

In 2013, he traveled to meet other computer developers. He came back to Toronto and shared his idea for Ethereum. He left university in 2014 after getting a special grant called the Thiel Fellowship. This grant gave him money to work on Ethereum full-time.

In 2018, he received an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Basel. This is a special award from a university.

His Work

Bitcoin Magazine

In 2011, Vitalik started writing for a website called Bitcoin Weekly. He wanted to earn some bitcoin, which was a new type of digital money. The website owner paid him a small amount of bitcoin for each article.

Later in 2011, Vitalik helped start a new magazine called Bitcoin Magazine. He was a co-founder and a main writer for it. This magazine was one of the first serious publications about cryptocurrencies.

Creating Ethereum

Vitalik Buterin is the person who came up with the idea for Ethereum. He imagined it as a "decentralized network." This means it's a computer system that isn't controlled by one single company or person. It allows people to create new digital money and programs that all share the same blockchain.

Vitalik first wrote about Ethereum in a special paper in November 2013. He believed that Bitcoin needed a more flexible way to create new applications. Since he couldn't get others to agree, he decided to create a new platform himself.

Interest in Ethereum grew quickly in late 2013 and early 2014. Vitalik officially announced Ethereum at a big conference in Miami in January 2014. He talked about how Ethereum could be a global computer. He explained how it could be used for many things, from crop insurance to special online organizations.

Vitalik once said that he was inspired to create decentralized money because of a video game. In World of Warcraft, a game company changed one of his character's special abilities. He realized that centralized services, where one company controls everything, could make big changes that players didn't like. This made him want to create something that no single company could control.

Other Computer Projects

Vitalik has also helped with other open-source software projects. Open-source means the computer code is available for anyone to see and use. He worked on projects like DarkWallet and Bitcoin Python libraries.

Working with Glen Weyl

Vitalik connected with an economist named Glen Weyl. They wrote a paper together in 2019. This paper suggested a new way to fund public goods, like parks or research, using a method called quadratic voting. This idea has helped raise money for many open-source software projects.

Artificial Intelligence

In 2021, Vitalik donated a lot of money to the Future of Life Institute. This group works to make sure that artificial intelligence (AI) develops safely. Vitalik has shared concerns that AI could become too powerful and might even be a risk to humanity.

Awards and Special Mentions

• Thiel Fellowship, 2014
• World Technology Award in IT Software, 2014
• Fortune 40 under 40 list, 2016
• Forbes 30 under 30 list, 2018
• University of Basel Honorary doctorate, 2018
• Time 100 list, 2021

Helping Others

Vitalik Buterin has given large donations to many causes. He often donates using cryptocurrency.

• In 2017, he gave money to the Machine Intelligence Research Institute.
• In 2018 and 2020, he donated to the SENS Research Foundation. This foundation researches ways to extend human lifespan and fight aging-related diseases.
• In 2021, he made a very large donation of SHIBA coins to India's Crypto Covid relief fund. This was a huge help during the pandemic.
• He also donated to the Methuselah Foundation, which also focuses on extending human life.
• In 2021, he made a founding donation to the Arc Institute, a biomedical research group.

Helping Ukraine

Vitalik spoke out against the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. He tweeted that "Ethereum is neutral, but I am not," showing his support for Ukraine. He has donated cryptocurrency to projects that help Ukraine. This includes Ukraine DAO, which helps raise funds for the country.

Books

• Vitalik Buterin. Proof of Stake: The Making of Ethereum and the Philosophy of Blockchains. — Seven Stories Press, 2022.

See also

In Spanish: Vitálik Buterin para niños

• List of University of Waterloo people
• List of people in blockchain technology
• List of philanthropists