"Bitcoin Wasn't Enough" — Vitalik Buterin on Why He Built Ethereum
Bitcoin showed us that decentralized money was possible. But Vitalik Buterin saw something bigger: a programmable blockchain that could change everything.
At just 19 years old, Vitalik wrote the Ethereum whitepaper. At 21, he launched a platform now valued at hundreds of billions of dollars — not to compete with Bitcoin, but to expand what blockchain technology could do.
In this comprehensive 41-minute deep dive, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin shares the complete story of why he created the world's leading smart contract platform. From losing his World of Warcraft character to dropping out of university with a Thiel Fellowship, discover the journey that led to DeFi, NFTs, and the future of decentralized technology.
🎯 What You'll Learn: - Why Bitcoin's limitations sparked Ethereum's creation - How smart contracts actually work (explained simply) - The technical innovations: EVM, Gas, Solidity - Real-world applications: DeFi, NFTs, DAOs - Addressing critics: scalability, security, competition - The Merge: Ethereum's transition to Proof of Stake - Vitalik's vision for a decentralized future
💡 Key Insights: - Ethereum processes over $50B in DeFi transactions - Smart contracts enable trustless financial services - The Merge reduced energy consumption by 99.95% - Ethereum has 4,000+ active developers building daily - Layer 2 solutions are solving scalability challenges - Bitcoin is money; Ethereum is a world computer
📚 Topics Covered: - Ethereum whitepaper origin story - Bitcoin Magazine and early crypto days - Thiel Fellowship and dropping out of university - The DAO hack and lessons learned - Proof of Work to Proof of Stake transition - DeFi revolution: Uniswap, Aave, Compound - NFTs and true digital ownership - DAOs: Decentralized Autonomous Organizations - Layer 2 scaling solutions - The future of Web3 and decentralization
⚠️ DISCLAIMER: This video is for educational purposes only. This is not financial advice. Always do your own research before making any investment decisions.
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