Vitalik Buterin, a co-founder of Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, has made Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people of 2021. The programmer was listed as an innovator, and Time valued his ability to empower other creators with his continued support for Ethereum and all the things that its prime feature, smart contracts, can help them accomplish.
Vitalik Buterin in Time’s Top 100 Influencers
The most famous Ethereum co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, has been included in Time’s top 100 influential people of 2021 list. The magazine lists the most important people according to current events and specifies the unique roles of the individuals on the list. Others included for 2021 are Nayib Bukele, president of El Salvador, who pushed the inclusion of Bitcoin as legal tender, and Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, who is also a cryptocurrency enthusiast.
Alexios Ohanian, one of the original builders of Reddit, discussed Buterin’s inclusion this year, saying:
What makes Vitalik so special, though, is that he is a builder’s builder. No one person could’ve possibly come up with all of the uses for Ethereum, but it did take one person’s idea to get it started. From there, a new world has opened up, and given rise to new ways of leveraging blockchain technology—some of which I’ve invested in.
Ethereum Is a Platform for Platforms
This year, Ethereum has been the hotbed for the rise of NFTs, a technology that is changing how artists and creators monetize their work. Opensea, one of the main NFT markets, has already surpassed the one-billion-dollar mark in sales. Another important Ethereum-based project that has risen this year is Axie Infinity. Axie was created in 2017, but it is now in the spotlight due to the impressive income some are achieving by playing it. Axie is making a big impact in emerging economies like the Philippines and Venezuela.
Ohanian, who wrote the review for Buterin, also makes reference to some important projects in the Ethereum ecosystem. He stressed:
Whether it’s startups like Sorare reinventing fantasy sports or Rainbow users showing off their NFT collections, none of this would’ve existed without Vitalik’s creation. I’ve never been more excited about the potential of the Internet, and that’s largely thanks to Vitalik Buterin.
Ethereum is now hovering over the $3,500 mark, up 4.3% in the last 24 hours.
