In the cryptocurrency world, getting rich and going bankrupt can happen overnight.
Some rely on shouting orders to profit, while others are obsessed with contract liquidations.
But there was one person who didn’t rely on speculation or luck; at 19, he wrote a white paper that completely changed the landscape of blockchain.
He is Vitalik Buterin, known as V God.
A Russian immigrant boy who grew up in Canada
In 1994, Vitalik Buterin was born in Kolomna, Moscow Oblast, Russia, to ordinary programmers. At the age of 6, he immigrated to Canada with his family.
Language barriers and a sense of not fitting in made him feel like an 'outcast' at school. In third grade, he was placed in a 'gifted children's class' where he could write small games in Excel.
Loneliness and geek temperament became the initial background of his life.
An accidental encounter: Bitcoin changed the boy's life
In 2011, his father casually mentioned 'there's something new called Bitcoin.'
Others laughed at it, but he was completely obsessed. He spent every day on forums until late at night, self-studying cryptography, and even wrote blogs and translated articles for the Bitcoin community to earn some pocket money.
Soon, he collaborated with others to found (Bitcoin Magazine), becoming one of the earliest Bitcoin evangelists.
The white paper at 19: the birth of a crazy idea
In 2013, 19-year-old Vitalik wrote (the Ethereum white paper).
The idea he proposed was:
Blockchain can not only transfer money, but also run any decentralized application.
This is the prototype of 'smart contracts'. At that time, many people did not understand, and some laughed at him as an 'idealistic dreamer.'
But Vitalik did not give up; instead, he became more determined to turn his dreams into reality.
Trip to Shenzhen: carrying a backpack to raise investments
After finishing the white paper, a realistic question emerged: where does the money come from?
In 2014, V carried a backpack and came to Shenzhen for the first time.
At that time, Shenzhen gathered miners and early cryptocurrency capital, making it the liveliest place.
According to witnesses at that time:
He dressed simply, like a student;
His English had an accent, many investors did not understand, but they were stunned by the idea of 'world computer';
After the roadshow, he was pulled to a drinking table, he was too shy to speak, only able to smile foolishly.
In the end, someone still put money to support this young man.
This funding became the key for Ethereum to continue advancing. Almost no one thought that this naive Russian boy would, a few years later, make global capital chase after him.
From white paper to the world stage: the miracle of Ethereum
In 2015, the Ethereum mainnet went live.
From that moment on, the boundaries of blockchain were redefined:
DeFi: Aave and Uniswap allow ordinary people to borrow and exchange like banks;
NFT: art, game equipment, and digital collectibles go global;
DAO: a new model of community governance and collaboration is budding.
If Bitcoin is 'digital gold', then Ethereum is 'the soil of infinite possibilities'.
Crisis and perseverance: tests in bull and bear cycles
The road of Ethereum is not smooth:
In 2016, the DAO incident caused the Ethereum community to split into ETH and ETC;
In the 2018 bear market, ETH fell from a thousand dollars back to a hundred dollars, and V was mocked as 'dreams shattered';
In the 2021 bull market, DeFi and NFT exploded, and Ethereum stood back in the spotlight.
Every crisis, he did not back down, but instead pushed for technological upgrades, such as Ethereum 2.0 and the transition to PoS.
Oddity in the crypto world: V's view on wealth
In an industry full of speculation and myths of getting rich, V is like an oddity.
He donated billions of dollars worth of SHIB to India's pandemic response;
He does not flaunt wealth, his life is almost 'simple';
He often appeared at hackathons, discussing code with young developers.
This made him out of place with other 'profit-seeking capital players' in the crypto world.
What can we learn?
Long-termism: while others chase hundredfold altcoins, he thinks about the ecology ten years down the line.
Technology and cognition are the ultimate wealth: speculative money may evaporate, but knowledge will not.
Background is not a limitation: a Russian immigrant boy, relying on code and vision, stood on the world stage.
Conclusion
From a small town in Russia to a roadshow in Shenzhen; from an immigrant youth to a global spiritual leader.
The story of Vitalik Buterin tells us:
No matter how great the ideal, one must learn to knock on the door of reality.
He is not the best at hype, but he is the one who truly changed the world with code and ideals.
A single tree cannot make a forest, a lone sail cannot sail far! In the crypto world, if you do not have a good circle, and do not have firsthand news from the crypto world, then I suggest you follow Lao Wang, who will help you get on board for free, welcome to join the team!!!