Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin ‘not a billionaire anymore’ amid crypto meltdown

New Delhi: The recent crash in the crypto market has not only affected the investors but also shown its impact on prominent entrepreneurs as it wiped off billions from their wealth. Once such example is Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin.

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.

Ethereum’s co-founder's announcement came in response to a tweet which read, “People have been trying to psychoanalyze Elon Musk + Jeff Bezos's recent tweet activity. What does it mean? Are they well? It's not that complicated. People just like posting. Billionaires too. Posting is great and people love doing it, especially when they get lots of attention.”

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.