Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin ‘not a billionaire anymore’ amid crypto meltdown
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin ‘not a billionaire anymore’ amid crypto meltdown
The 28-year-old founded Ethereum, which is amongst the top cryptocurrencies by market cap, in 2014. Buterin on Friday took to twitter and announced that he is no longer a billionaire. The digital token, after touching a high of around $4,800 in November 2021, has come down by 59 per cent.
Buterin’s holding then was nearly $1.5 billion.
Buterin replied saying, “What happened to “talking directly to the people” being a virtue? (btw I particularly appreciate that Elon and Jeff actually respond to people, and don’t just shout their own stuff).”
In another tweet, he added that he is not a billionaire anymore.
It may be noted that Ether is the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation after Bitcoin, and has lost about half its value in the past six months and is about 60 per cent below its record high of $69,000.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin too fell 5 per cent to around $29,700 on Monday (May 16, 2022) in Asian trade, sliding alongside stocks because of worries about high inflation and rising interest rates. The world’s largest cryptocurrency has lost around one fifth of its value so far this month, as the spectacular collapse of TerraUSD, a so-called stablecoin, has roiled crypto markets already falling amid broad selling of risky investments.