Ethereum co-founder Fabian Vogelsteller recently took to Twitter to dispute the contributions of Charles Hoskinson, the creator of Cardano, to the Ethereum project. In a tweet, Vogelsteller stated that Hoskinson “was never really a founder of Ethereum” and that he “built literally nothing for Ethereum that I am aware of.” The crypto veteran went on to suggest that only he and Gavin Wood, the creator of Polkadot, should be recognized as Ethereum’s true founders alongside Vitalik Buterin.
Vogelsteller’s comments came in response to a tweet that listed the market capitalizations of various blockchain projects created by original Ethereum Foundation members, including Cardano, Polkadot, and Lukso. In a follow-up tweet, Vogelsteller clarified that his statements were not meant to offend anyone, but rather to emphasize the facts surrounding the early development of Ethereum.
In response to Vogelsteller’s claims, Charles Hoskinson, the CEO of IOHK and the creator of Cardano, took to Twitter to express his thoughts. He sarcastically thanked Vogelsteller for his opinion on his worth and contributions to Ethereum. Hoskinson further questioned how his alleged incompetence could have resulted in the creation of Cardano, a highly successful blockchain project. This exchange between Vogelsteller and Hoskinson has sparked debate within the cryptocurrency community regarding the contributions of various individuals to the development of Ethereum.
Hoskinson’s association with the Ethereum project began in 2013, when he met Vitalik Buterin, the founder, and creator of Ethereum. At that time, Hoskinson was a relatively unknown figure in the crypto space, but he soon became a prominent member of the Ethereum team. He co-founded the Ethereum project with seven other members, including Buterin and Wood, and became the original CEO of the Ethereum Foundation. Following disagreements about the direction of Ethereum, Hoskinson left the project in 2014.
After leaving Ethereum, Hoskinson went on to create IOHK (Input Output Hong Kong), a research and development company focused on blockchain technology. IOHK is now responsible for the development of Cardano, a blockchain project aiming to build a decentralized platform that can process more transactions than Ethereum, while also providing advanced smart contract capabilities.
Since its launch, Cardano has gained significant traction, with a market capitalization of over $60 billion, making it the fifth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap. Cardano has been praised for its innovative Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus algorithm, Ouroboros, which aims to combine scalability and security while being more energy-efficient than Proof of Work (PoW) alternatives like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Despite Hoskinson’s contributions to the blockchain space, the recent exchange between him and Vogelsteller highlights the ongoing debate over the founding members of Ethereum and their respective contributions to the project. While it is difficult to assess the exact impact each individual has had on Ethereum’s development, the project’s success can likely be attributed to a collective effort of many people.
Vogelsteller himself has played a crucial role in Ethereum’s history, having proposed and implemented the ERC20 token standard, which revolutionized the ICO industry and laid the foundation for the booming DeFi sector. He is also the co-founder of the decentralized platform for building and managing digital assets, Lukso.
Gavin Wood, the other individual Vogelsteller refers to as a true founder of Ethereum, served as the project’s CTO and invented the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and the programming language Solidity. Wood has since moved on to create the Polkadot blockchain platform, which aims to build a decentralized internet by connecting multiple independent blockchains.
The debate around the founding members of Ethereum is likely to continue, but one thing is certain – the project has spawned numerous innovators who have contributed significantly to the blockchain space. With Vogelsteller’s work on ERC20 tokens and Lukso, Hoskinson’s creation of Cardano, and Wood’s development of Polkadot, Ethereum undoubtedly laid the groundwork for many crucial developments in the crypto and blockchain landscape. As the cryptocurrency ecosystem continues to grow and diversify, the accomplishments of Ethereum’s creators offer valuable lessons in entrepreneurship and innovation.
