Vitalik Buterin’s appearance on the front cover of TIME Magazine is a watershed moment for Ethereum and the cryptocurrency movement more generally. It gave Ethereum’s founder and crypto hero the opportunity to talk about his concerns, hopes and visions for the future of cryptocurrency. It also gave Twitter users ample opportunity to take aim at the cover in a barrage of hilarious tweets that seemed to amuse Vitalik no end.
Here’s a rundown of some of the best (worst?) reactions to the cover.
Crypt Bro?
Many of the tweets commented on Vitalik’s appearance and they were…not complimentary.
Some users even seemed to be personally offended.
Is Vitalik a supernatural being?
Others moved beyond mere attacks on Vitalik’s appearance to take things down a more supernatural and even science fiction route.
And one for all the gamers out there…
An alternate reality Tom Brady?
There were also some interesting comparisons with Tom Brady, although not the kind that Vitalik would probably have wanted.
Not that Vitalik even knows who Tom Brady is. In a follow-up tweet he told followers that he had to Google the American football star to understand the jokes. Perhaps he’s a little more familiar with another celebrity look-alike…
The best/worst of the rest
Amongst the barrage, Vitalik also received plenty of support from users outraged by the comments. He seemed to shrug the attacks off and, although we can’t speak on his behalf, it’s hard to imagine that the founder of Ethereum will be losing any sleep over this. Others, it seems, have been.
Beneath the comic takes, Vitalik’s interview is wide ranging and in some parts ominous. He frets over the ‘dystopian potential’ of cryptocurrency if not used correctly, ever higher transaction fees and the risk of investment turning into a form of high stakes gambling. Intriguingly, he’s less than enthusiastic about ‘these $3 million dollar monkeys’ (a dig at BAYC) which he sees as a form of gambling. He later refers to the tokens again, suggesting that the invasion of Ukraine (and the outpouring of crypto donations) showed that crypto is about creating positive change, not playing “games with million dollar pictures of monkeys.”
There are positives too, of course. The interview gave Vitalik an opportunity to talk about his vision for Ethereum, which includes ‘fairer voting systems, urban planning, universal income, public-works projects.’ Vitalik is certainly crypto royalty, although one Twitter user likened him to a more ancient kind of dynasty. No offence.
Vitalik has achieved a great deal in his life, but it seems that pleasing Twitter is something that’s beyond even him.
