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Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin needs no introduction. He was part of the founding team behind the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency network in 2015; envisioning a world free of borders, decentralized governance, and autonomous companies (among other features).
Despite not being as active as he once was with Ethereum, Buterin remains a thought leader in the space for his ideas and work on a decentralized future.
A recent paper Buterin co-authored with a Harvard professor is evidence of the above; tying in blockchain with a popular law of our times.
Discussing a decentralized future
On a video call with Thibault Schrepel, a Harvard law professor, yesterday—the duo presented their paper on “Blockchain Code as Antitrust,” exploring features of the idealogy and arguing how blockchain technology can complement antitrust laws.
The paper was first out in May this year. But due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Buterin and Schrepel did not formally present their thesis.
They made it yesterday on a YouTube video, however. The paper explores a theory of decentralization in the real world, the role of smart contracts, and trifling monopolies with distributed governance.
The paper contends nation-states must utilize public, permissionless blockchains to complement antitrust law. The latter protects consumers from corporate-centric predatory practices while ensuring power is evenly distributed among influential businesses.
“Both antitrust and blockchain seek decentralization,” explains Schrepel in the video. He adds the two mechanisms are complementary; making a free market possible in the real-world.
“Antitrust law does this by preventing companies from holding too much economic power, blockchains do it by reducing intermediaries and enabling peer-to-peer transactions,” he adds.
Push for blockchain sandbox
Buterin provided inputs on the many misconceptions that mainstream media perpetuates about blockchain. Specifically, he noted that blockchain systems do not mean every element of those need to be decentralized.
The 26-year-old said centralization can occur and it’s oft-valuable to have some centralized actors; such as wallet providers to certain layer-2 infrastructure firms:
“At the same time, there is this pressure to really try hard to reduce the extent to which this happens (…) at the protocol layer, we really try hard to push for more decentralization at the application layer and so forth.”
Buterin and Schrepel said they encourage governments to provide regulated sandboxes and legal spaces so that blockchain technology, and its development, becomes more decentralized and can assist in reaching the objectives of antitrust laws.
Meanwhile, China is already pursuing a blockchain-based government. Reports yesterday noted the country announced the development of a decentralized system for e-governance, imports, business, and even private firms in Beijing. This is in line with its broader push for blockchain technology under the Five-Year-Plan.
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The spot bitcoin ETF news has been the most significant cryptocurrency catalyst in 2024. But ethereum could also rally in the coming months if the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates sooner or more aggressively than expected. ETH prices are up 48% in 2024. That's roughly in line with bitcoin's year-to-date gain.
Vitalik Buterin currently holds 278,524 ETH (~$1M) and 256 WETH ($919K), which makes him one of the largest holders of ETH. He currently holds 0.23% of all ETH in existence. Besides ETH, his two largest holdings are $21.7M in USDC and $782K in KNCL. KNCL is the legacy token of Kyber Network to which he is an advisor.
After graduation, Buterin enrolled into the University of Waterloo which he eventually dropped out after a year of computer science and landed the Thiel Fellowship. He used his time to co-found and work on several startups in cryptocurrency and digital finance. He's also well-known for having an IQ level of 257.
Buterin had argued that bitcoin needed a scripting language for application development. But when he failed to gain agreement, he proposed development of a new platform with a more general scripting language. The Ethereum white paper was circulated, and interest grew in the new protocol in late 2013 and early 2014.
It holds 165 million BNB worth $94 billion, 640,000 BTC worth $40 billion, $27.2 billion worth of Tether (USDT) and 4.4 million ETH worth $13.2 billion. Coinbase has the largest ETH holding on the list. Its $20 billion of ETH is more than 5% of the total supply.
He might qualify as a genius. With an IQ of 150, Elon Musk belongs to the "GENIUS" category, and with a score of 155, he belongs to the "HIGH GENIUS" category. However, there is no available IQ test result.
Anyone can use Ethereum—it's designed to be scalable, programmable, secure, and decentralized—to create any secured digital technology. Its token is designed to pay for work done supporting the blockchain, but participants can also use it to pay for tangible goods and services if accepted.
Who owns the most Bitcoin in the world? The top Bitcoin holder is still believed to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the anonymous creator of Bitcoin, who reportedly holds around 1.1 million BTC across many wallets. Despite this large holding, the top 10 holders collectively only possess about 5.5% of the total Bitcoin supply.
It was a platform that allowed developers to create a diverse array of applications and programs using the power of cryptocurrencies, particularly its native currency, ETH. Smart contracts, which are essentially programs that can be saved and operated on the Ethereum platform, are how the platform accomplishes this.
Ethereum price has demonstrated a robust upward trajectory in 2024. A bullish year-end may lay a solid foundation for further upward movement towards ambitious targets. Bolstered by strong bullish momentum, the bears might remain subdued until a new yearly high is established.
According to Cryptonewz, by the end of the current year 2024, ETH will touch $5,000. By the year 2025, Ethereum is expected to reach the maximum level of $6,500 with a minimum of $ 4,500 and an average of $5,500. And by the year 2030, it is expected that it may go up to a maximum of $20,500.
In the future, Avalanche aims at DeFi, NFTs, and business solutions. With a strong team and community, 2024 seems promising for AVAX. If it grabs a big share in DeFi and NFTs, AVAX could become a major player in the blockchain world. Think of Polkadot (DOT) as the Internet for Blockchains.
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Why Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin is pushing for blockchain in antitrust laws Shaurya Malwa · 4 years ago · 2 min read 
Vitalik Buterin
