Crypto’s Trumpian embrace is leaving Bitcoin’s big rival behind
Buterin was long viewed as the wunderkind of the cryptocurrency world.
The gawky, playful founder of Ethereum — known for his rainbow-colored, animal-themed shirts — created the biggest competitor to Bitcoin and offered a techno-utopian vision that was supposed to change the financial system and our everyday digital lives.
But after capturing the imaginations of both corporate America and Wall Street, Buterin’s project is now struggling to deliver on its early promise as it enters its second decade, having fallen out of step in an industry transformed by the embrace of Donald Trump. Developers have been fleeing, early followers are angry and the token on the network — Ether — has lagged both Bitcoin and its smaller competitors.
The pressure on Buterin, who is now 31, has spilled into the open as complaints about his leadership have become louder.
“If you ‘keep the pressure on,’ then you are creating an environment that is actively toxic to top talent,” he wrote to one critic of the Ethereum Foundation, which was created to help oversee the development of the software that underpins the digital token. “YOU ARE MAKING MY JOB HARDER.”
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The anger is a departure from Buterin’s reputation as one of the more even-keeled actors in the chaotic crypto industry. His moments of agitation underscore just how many challenges Ethereum is confronting as the practical utility of cryptocurrencies and their blockchain ledgers has been overwhelmed by memes and rampant speculation, now with the imprimatur of the