Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong praised Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin in a current social media put up.
The Ethereum whitepaper was revealed 12 years in the past right this moment.
Ethereum modified the sport for cryptocurrencies by giving builders higher instruments, together with a Turing-complete language.
Due to @VitalikButerin, co-founder of Ethereum, and your complete Ethereum neighborhood. So many…
— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) November 27, 2025
Understandably, the put up didn’t sit nicely with Bitcoin maximalists, who had been fast to explain Ethereum as “centralized pseudo-money” and “fiat forex.”
No, it was a step again. Reliance on an individual, CEO, basis, or crew in a centralized banking system is centralization, no totally different than fiat forex.
All centralization will finish in the identical manner. corruption. grasping. And inflation.
Ethereum is a centralized pseudo-money.
— Metteyya (@therealmetteyya) November 27, 2025
branching highway
Armstrong and Buterin are recognized to have first met at a Bitcoin convention in San Jose in 2013. On the time, Buterin was writing for Bitcoin Journal. Armstrong later recalled that Buterin’s writing made an impression on him.
Just a few months later, Mr. Armstrong invited Mr. Buterin to go to the brand new first workplace of Coinbase (which Mr. Armstrong co-founded and runs) in San Francisco.
The Coinbase crew was and regarded hiring Buterin. Nevertheless, issues did not go nicely as Buterin was unable to acquire a US work visa. This visa difficulty compelled him to return to Canada.
In Canada, Buterin acquired plenty of publicity when he revealed his Ethereum white paper. This revolutionary doc laid out the foundations for sensible contracts, decentralized purposes, and programmable blockchains that transcend easy digital currencies.
Through the years, each have been acknowledged as “high younger influencers” within the cryptocurrency/know-how trade. In 2017, Mr. Armstrong and Mr. Buterin had been each named to Fortune journal’s influential checklist of 40 Beneath 40.
controversial checklist
After its launch in 2015, Ethereum rapidly grew to turn into the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. Coinbase has constructed a repute as a number one US-based cryptocurrency alternate, initially specializing in Bitcoin buying and selling. Nevertheless, Ethereum was first listed on Coinbase in July 2016.
The itemizing of Ethereum on Coinbase turned out to be very controversial amongst Bitcoin maximalists.
