Vitalik Buterin is a name that should be mentioned in a description of the cryptocurrency industry. He is famous for leading the team that created Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization after Bitcoin. Not just that, it is a popular altcoin, and many consider it as an alternative to Bitcoin. For this reason, it is not surprising that crypto enthusiasts are interested in Vitalik Buterin’s net worth.
Launched in 2013, Buterin’s Ethereum has grown very fast to become the number one platform for smart contracts and dapps. While this has contributed immensely to the development of the space with many different use cases explored on the Ethereum network, it has also led to unbearable transaction fees, especially with the advent of DeFi. This led to the upgrading of the network to Ethereum 2.0 in 2020. We will talk more about this in a short while.
Vitalik Buterin Net Worth
Buterin has no doubt helped to develop the cryptocurrency and blockchain space with the Ethereum project. He is also one of those with the highest net worth in the space. In January, Forbes reported that he became one of the billionaires made during the last Bitcoin pump that took the price to over $41000. It is worth noting that Buterin is more interested in blockchain technology as a science than as an investor. The Forbes report says Vitalik Buterin’s net worth is about $360 million in crypto.
This is mainly from his stash of ETH, which is reportedly 330000 coins. Many would think this a small amount of coins for an Ethereum co-founder, considering that Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin, took a million of the 21 million coins for himself. No doubt, it is Buterin’s interest in developing the technology that is driving the Ethereum 2.0 project.
Ethereum 2.0
The cryptocurrency space has long anticipated the launch of Ethereum 2.0. This is an upgrade that will help improve the scalability of the Ethereum network and its general performance. These will take place particularly by reducing transaction fees. One of the most important features of the project, however, is the staking of ETH.
This is possible through Ethereum’s transition from a Proof-of-Stake network. In other words, there is no need for miners anymore. New coins don’t need to be mined but can be given as a reward to those who stake their holdings to secure the network.
The staking aspect got a lot of acceptance from users of Ethereum. The first stage launch of Ethereum 2.0 was on December 1 2020. Between then and mid-January 2021, there was over $3 billion worth of Ethereum staked on the network. If he is staking his ETH like the many other holders of the asset, the possibility is that Vitalik Buterin’s net worth will increase significantly in 2021.
Ethereum Reaches Record Highs
Ethereum has been at the forefront of market performance since late 2020, just like Bitcoin. Although many believe that ETH is following Bitcoin’s price trends, it is the ongoing price stunts that could be due to more than just following in Bitcoin’s path. Cryptocurrencies generally get more valuable with increasing engagement of the network.
The staking of billions of dollars in ETH on the network is likely a major factor influencing the price as well as the use of DeFi and the smart contract and dapps infrastructure. Analysts have mentioned several times the overvaluation of Ethereum. This is due to the infrastructure that can be found on the network.
The cryptocurrency now trades at $1,707.37 after breaching the 2017 all-time high of just over $1,400. Analysts expect that Ethereum will continue on its way up and could break $2,000 in 2021, which means Vitalik Buterin’s net worth will go up. Just like for Bitcoin, this price surge may be fueled by the continuous buying of the asset by Grayscale. By the way, it is a leading digital asset manager in the world. Just last week, Grayscale bought $76 million worth of Ethereum, while, in 2020, it bought half of all newly minted ETH.
There are, however, emerging competitors, one of which is Tron. The Tron blockchain came out of Ethereum in 2018 and has been criticized for having too many of Ethereum’s features. As you may guess, it was mainly a smart contract and dapp platform, just like Ethereum. As DeFi continues to blossom on Ethereum, Tron has stepped up its game to include DeFi tokens on its platform.
Tron Founder has repeatedly boasted that Tron will soon overtake Ethereum as the hub for DeFi and smart contracts. Tron’s major selling point is its low transaction fees, which is a huge relief from the ever-increasing Ethereum fees. At the moment, WrappeBTC and WrappedETH, two of the most used DeFi tokens, are available on Tron. This means that it is only a matter of time before a good number of Ethereum users move to Tron. It is worth noting that TRX is now worth about $0.03722.
Conclusion
If Vitalik Buterin’s net worth will increase in 2021, Ethereum needs to step up its game and particularly work towards scaling the network soon, or competitors like Tron will overtake it. The level of engagement of a network with users plays a crucial role in improving the value and thus the price of a cryptocurrency, but Ethereum may be on the verge of losing that.
The only reason that some users stick with Ethereum, for now, may be that a suitable replacement is not yet available. Tron may soon become that suitable option with much higher scalability, and it will only be a matter of time before Ethereum loses its relevance. It is time for the scalability improvement aspect of Ethereum 2.0 to come into full force to save the future of ETH.
Featured image: forklog.com
