Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin spoke about the Russia-Ukraine war. Buterin said he regretted Putin’s decision to abandon a peaceful solution, describing the invasion as a crime.
The Russian-Canadian founder of Ethereum, Buterin shared his views on the occupation in Russian on his Twitter account. Buterin said:
“I am deeply saddened by Putin’s decision to abandon the possibility of a peaceful resolution of the conflict with Ukraine and go to war instead. This is a crime against the people of Ukraine and Russia… Ethereum is neutral but I am not.”
Earlier this week, the recognition of the independence of the two separatist regions in eastern Ukraine was interpreted as lowering the possibility of a hot war in the markets. But President Vladimir Putin announced on Wednesday that he would conduct a “special military operation” in Ukraine. This was a veiled reference to a complete invasion.
Born in Russia in the years following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Buterin immigrated to Canada with his family in 2000. In the same year, Putin was appointed Head of State.
Vitalik’s father Dmitry also used the expressions about Putin in an interview with Decrypt in early 2021, “He is the KGB and these two (KGB and Putin) are the people who torture and kill millions of Russians and Ukrainians.”
Buterin also attempted diplomacy in 2017 and met with Putin to get Russia to use the Ethereum network. Putin, on the other hand, reacted sharply.
However, in recent weeks, Russia’s Central Bank rejected a proposal to ban cryptoassets, arguing that using the country’s energy resources to mine Bitcoin could give Russia “certain competitive advantages.” A 2019 Wired article discussed how Russia could use Bitcoin mining in former Soviet states to “end US sanctions.” But neither Putin nor Russia has fully embraced cryptocurrencies, which tend to oppose authoritarianism.
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