Vitalik Buterin Offers Crypto Lessons Following FTX Collapse
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said the collapse of FTX illustrated once again that the problem lies in people, not in technology.
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Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin spoke out in the wake of FTX's collapse, offering his thoughts and some positives from one of crypto's biggest black swan events.
In a Bloomberg interview on November 20, Buterin said that the collapse of FTX holds lessons for the entire crypto ecosystem.
He acknowledged that the underlying stability of the distributed ledger and the technology that powers the crypto asset economy has not been questioned. The problem in this case (and many before it) has been people, not technology.
Buterin also called the collapse of FTX a "great tragedy", but added that he reaffirms the position of many in the Ethereum community regarding centralization:
“That said, many in the Ethereum community also see the situation as a validation of what they believed in all along: anything centralized is suspicious by default.”
He added that this philosophy involves trusting open and transparent code rather than humans. Over the weekend, Buterin published a guide to having a "safe CEX" with proof of insolvency.
He said that instead of relying solely on "fiduciary methods" such as government licensing, auditors, corporate governance and background investigations of people running exchanges, exchanges could create “cryptographic evidence that shows that the funds they hold on-chain are sufficient to cover their liabilities to their users.”
Having a Safe CEX: Proof of Solvency and Beyondhttps://t.co/AKEweYZfj2
Many thanks to @balajis and @coinbase staff @binance @krakenfx for the discussion!
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin)
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said the collapse of FTX illustrated once again that the problem lies in people, not in technology.
New
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin spoke out in the wake of FTX's collapse, offering his thoughts and some positives from one of crypto's biggest black swan events.
In a Bloomberg interview on November 20, Buterin said that the collapse of FTX holds lessons for the entire crypto ecosystem.
He acknowledged that the underlying stability of the distributed ledger and the technology that powers the crypto asset economy has not been questioned. The problem in this case (and many before it) has been people, not technology.
Buterin also called the collapse of FTX a "great tragedy", but added that he reaffirms the position of many in the Ethereum community regarding centralization:
“That said, many in the Ethereum community also see the situation as a validation of what they believed in all along: anything centralized is suspicious by default.”
He added that this philosophy involves trusting open and transparent code rather than humans. Over the weekend, Buterin published a guide to having a "safe CEX" with proof of insolvency.
He said that instead of relying solely on "fiduciary methods" such as government licensing, auditors, corporate governance and background investigations of people running exchanges, exchanges could create “cryptographic evidence that shows that the funds they hold on-chain are sufficient to cover their liabilities to their users.”
Having a Safe CEX: Proof of Solvency and Beyondhttps://t.co/AKEweYZfj2
Many thanks to @balajis and @coinbase staff @binance @krakenfx for the discussion!
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin)What's Your Reaction?
