Vitalik Buterin has become a Russian-born, Canadian-raised anti-Putin billionaire activist.
Vitalik Buterin spoke at the Denver event on February 18, 2022.
The photo was taken by Michael Ciaglo.
Vitalik Buterin, the son of Dmitry Buterin, called him three weeks ago.
Sometimes the two men talk in spurts, sometimes they talk every day. Canada, Mexico, United States, Argentina, the capitals of Europe, Singapore, and Moscow are some of the places the younger Buterin gets calls from.
The call home from San Francisco in February was different.
Vitalik said he wanted to write a social-media post, but he was scared to do it.
Vitalik Buterin posed for photos outside of a competition in Toronto.
The photo was taken for the National Post.
The younger Buterin was afraid. The message he had in mind was for Putin, not just his 3.4 million followers. He asked his father to check his spelling and to give feedback on his writing when he proposed the post in Russian.
The elder Buterin, a vocal critic of the Russian president whose antipathy is decades old, said that Putin is a bully. The Russian invasion had not even begun when his son publicly challenged the bully.
Whether the situation will return to a peaceful path or there will be a war can now be decided by the Russians.
Нападение на Украину может только навредить России, Украине и человечеству.
Вернется ли ситуация на мирный путь или будет война, сейчас может решить не Зеленский, не нато, а @KremlinRussia
Надеюсь что выберут мудро.
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) February 11, 2022
Buterin doesn't promote tub-thumping views on subjects that pop to mind. He was cast into an environment where moral battle lines that didn't exist a month ago are re-drawing the activist map and thrusting all kinds of unexpected characters into the spotlight.
Buterin's social-media persona has evolved from that of a genius to that of a Russian-born, Canadian-raised, pro-Ukrainian person.
He promoted a campaign for Ukrainian civilians where contributions were collected in ether and the amount raised was close to US$7 million. He also shares his father's human rights social-media blasts, and he has pushed a community that has a significant Russian presence to get with the program and choose a side in the conflict.
Vitalik posted in English.
The boy genius, whose father encouraged him to drop out of university and pursue his interest in bitcoins more than a decade ago, has found his voice politically, and his dad could not be prouder.
Vitalik, and daughter Misha are with their father, Dmitry Buterin.
The photo was taken by Dmitry Buterin.
Vitalik is Russian, he is Russian speaking, and things have changed, according to his father. Vitalik has said that he stands for human values, peace and peace, and there are a bunch of people in Russia giving him a hard time.
The blowback is understandable. In Russia, the older Buterin said, what is black and white to the outside world is seen as white in Putin's state-dominated, propaganda-saturated domestic bubble. The war in Ukraine is not a war of aggression, but a war of liberation, and the insanity of the Russian state messaging drives the 49-year-old ex-pat a little bit nuts.
Buterin knows about the craziness of Russia. He was educated at the Moscow Institute of Electronics Engineering and served in the Russian army reserve in the 90s. He remembers how spoiled meat the recruits were fed and how much booze the officers were 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217
Vitalik Buterin had a computer.
The photo was taken by Dmitry Buterin.
The army has gotten worse since then, maybe it is better equipped now, but there is no professionalism.
Buterin, his first ex-wife, their five-year-old son Vitalik, and his second wife, who he is now also separated from, all came to Canada in 1999. The dominant force in Russian politics was Putin. Predicting the future was impossible.
Canada, with Toronto serving as the family hub, seemed like a good place to build a life and raise a child who, at age seven, wrote an Encyclopedia of Bunnies that imagined an entire bunny world, complete with all the operating systems therein. It could be called a prediction.
Vitalik is an amazing human, and the reason he is so successful is that he wants to build better systems for people to cooperate.
There is a representation of ether.
The photo was taken by Dado Ruvic.
The father admits he isn't an expert. Like his son, he is anentrepreneur. WildApricot Inc., a software company he founded as a management tool for small non-profits, had a Moscow office.
The company wasn't big or profitable enough to get caught up in the government kickback schemes common in Russia, but Buterin said he has a lot of friends who became rich playing the game.
That is, securing state business in real estate, the sale of luxury goods and whatnot, and profiting from it, with the understanding that this is the way of doing business in Putin's Russia.
In the days after the Russian invasion, Buterin had some angry exchanges with his Moscow friends. He hasn't slept much either, plugging into chat rooms full of Ukrainians, both under siege and living abroad, to find ways to raise money, upend Moscow with cyberattacks, and do anything other than stay silent.
Buterin said she has grandparents on both sides that were Ukrainian.
He is talking to software engineers who are taking the fight to the bully.
This is the first time he has taken such a clear political stand
Dmitry Buterin, of his son Vitalik
The world has taken sides because of their heroism. Buterin made a decision a long time ago. The genius he helped raise is now with him.
Vitalik told me that he would not be able to go to Russia again until Putin's regime is over.
Email: Joconnor@nationalpost.com
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