Ethereum’s genesis block was mined on July 30, 2015. Eleven years on, the network has become the second most important blockchain in the crypto ecosystem and now carries a market capitalization of more than $230 billion, according to CoinGecko. To mark the anniversary, Protos reviewed what the project’s eight official co-founders are still working on publicly.
Vitalik Buterin remains deeply involved with Ethereum
Vitalik Buterin is still the founder most closely identified with Ethereum. Protos described him as the project’s spokesperson and guiding figure, noting that he has continued to work closely on Ethereum itself and remains deeply involved with the Ethereum Foundation.
That role has also made him a regular target for criticism. The report said many traders have been frustrated by what they see as the Ethereum Foundation not doing enough to support the project, or at least its price.
Anthony Di Iorio tried to leave crypto, but not fully
Anthony Di Iorio is one of the few Ethereum co-founders who openly tried to step away from the crypto sector. In 2021, while attempting to sell his cryptocurrency accelerator, he told Bloomberg that he did not necessarily feel safe in the space and said crypto is really a small percentage of what the world needs.
His departure from the sector did not end there. He later founded Andiami, a firm that says it is building the tools to power the decentralized future.
Public activity around that effort appears limited. Protos noted that Andiami has not posted on X since early 2023, and its YouTube, Instagram, and blog have not been updated since 2022.
Charles Hoskinson built Cardano after leaving Ethereum
Charles Hoskinson looked at Ethereum and concluded that a different chain would be the answer to the problems he believed it had. He later founded Cardano.
Hoskinson has also pursued projects outside crypto, including the failed Hoskinson Health and Wellness Clinic. Protos compared the two networks’ year-to-date performance and said Ethereum was down about 36%, while Cardano was down about 55%, meaning Cardano had substantially underperformed Ethereum.
His time at Ethereum was contentious and he was eventually forced out. Citing Laura Shin’s Cryptopians, the report said Hoskinson made extraordinary claims, including implying that he was Satoshi Nakamoto.
Mihai Alisie and Amir Chetrit have kept a lower public profile
Mihai Alisie founded Bitcoin Magazine, where Buterin also worked before Ethereum was created. His LinkedIn profile still describes him as the founder of the AKASHA Project.
Protos said the foundation behind that project shut down several months ago.
Amir Chetrit founded Colored Coins before joining Ethereum. His period at Ethereum was also controversial, and he and Hoskinson were eventually pushed out on what Laura Shin called “Game of Thrones Day.”
Since then, Chetrit has reportedly remained in crypto while keeping a low profile.
Joseph Lubin, Gavin Wood, and Jeffrey Wilcke took different routes
Joseph Lubin has been one of the most entrepreneurial Ethereum co-founders, mainly through ConsenSys. The company has been a major player in crypto through products and services including the MetaMask wallet and Ethereum infrastructure provider Infura.
The report said the US Securities and Exchange Commission had previously sued ConsenSys over MetaMask, but that case was dropped during the second Trump administration.
Gavin Wood had been a Bitcoin developer before joining Ethereum. He later founded Parity Technologies, released the Parity client, and launched the Polkadot network, which Protos described as a parachain intended to connect various blockchains.
Jeffrey Wilcke has stayed out of the spotlight. Before Ethereum, he worked on Mastercoin and helped create the Geth, or Go Ethereum, client. He later founded Grid Games with his brother, though Protos said the website timed out when it tried to access it.
Many original founders have moved on
Looking across the list, Protos concluded that many of the founders who helped start the so-called world computer have since moved on from it.