Ethereum co-founder not a billionaire anymore after crypto crash

A man who was barely out of his teens when he invented one of the most popular cryptocurrencies has revealed he’s lost half his fortune.

The cryptocurrency crash has dragged down blockchain traders around the world, including even the most high profile of investors.

Now a major crypto boss who is also the creator of one of the largest tokens has revealed he’s lost so much money he is no longer a billionaire.

Cryptocurrency has been stuck in a rut for most of 2022 but plunged to new lows for the year last week, after a stable coin lost 98 per cent of its value in what should have been an impossibility.

Economic pain surrounding cryptocurrency reached new heights last week after a different blockchain plummeted by 98 per cent in the space of just 24 hours.

Terra (UST), which was previously among the top 10 most valuable cryptocurrencies in the world, slumped below $US1 ($A1.42) earlier this month.

The impact has been instant; skittish investors have pulled out and it’s left the entire cryptocurrency space in dire straits, with bitcoin and ethereum briefly reaching levels that hadn’t been seen since June last year.

Now 28-year-old Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of ethereum, has revealed that he’s lost billions in the bear run.

Over the weekend, the entrepreneur of the second most valuable cryptocurrency tweeted sombrely to his four million followers: “btw I‘m not a billionaire anymore”.

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(btw btw I'm not a billionaire anymore)

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) May 20, 2022

Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum Foundation and Bitcoin Magazine, has announced he is no longer a billionaire. Picture: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

The ether token has already lost 60 per cent of its value since it reached an all-time high in November last year, of $US4,865.57 ($A6800).

At time of writing, ethereum was trading at around $US2000 ($A2800).

As of November last year, when ethereum (and most other cryptocurrencies) were at their peak, Mr Buterin revealed he had ether holdings worth about $US1.5 billion ($2.1 billion), according to Bloomberg.

Now, just six months later, half of that fortune has been wiped away.

He casually mentioned his declining fortunes in a tweet thread discussing billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos – a club he is no longer part of.

Ethereum’s rise and fall in the last 12 months.

Ethereum is the second biggest cryptocurrency after bitcoin, with a market capitalisation of $245 billion.

Mr Buterin co-founded ethereum in 2013 with seven others while they shared a rented house in Switzerland when he was barely out of his teenage years.

He is currently the only one still working on the project.

But the news just got worse for him and other ethereum holders.

Ethereum is set to lose the majority of its worth in the near future, an expert has predicted.

John Roque from 22V Research said last week that ethereum would probably shed an eye-watering 80 per cent of its value.

The technical analyst expected ether’s price to drop as low as $US420 ($A600) if the coin can’t rally soon.