Top-Ranking Ethereum Co-Founder Abandons Crypto Over Safety Worries

Anthony Di Iorio, the Ethereum co-founder, has said that he intends to exit the crypto sector, expressing fears over his safety. Despite co-founding the world’s second-biggest crypto, Di Iorio thinks that society is in little need of digital assets.

Based on a July 17 report published by Bloomberg, Di Iorio wants to sell his digital asset from Decentral and sever all ties with every other crypto project that he is currently involved with, saying that he no longer feels safe due to his elevated profile within the crypto industry:

“It’s got a risk profile that I am not too enthused about. I don’t feel necessarily safe in this space. If I was focused on larger problems, I think I’d be safer.”

Originally coming from a background of web development, Di Iorio was among the eight co-founders who started working on Ethereum in 2014. At the time, he served as the chief digital officer of the Toronto Stock Exchange and since 2016 he has focused on venture capital investing and startup advising in recent years.

The 48-year-old Canadian entrepreneur unveiled blockchain company Decentral in 2016. Decentral operates Jaxx Liberty, which is a multi-platform crypto wallet that boasts a user base of over one million.

Since 2017, Di Iorio has traveled with a well-detailed security team. In 2018, Forbes Forbes estimated his net worth to be around $1 billion, featuring him in its crypto rich-list of the year. In the same year, Di Iorio was also cast into the limelight after acquiring the biggest condo in Canada for $22 million and using cryptocurrency as part of the payment.

Currently, Di Iorio is expected to sell Decentraland for “hundreds of millions,” highlighting that he will just accept cash or equity in another firm for settlement, and will not consider any offers made in crypto. The entrepreneur also insisted that he does not want to invest in blockchain startups moving forward.

In a bid to look for other philanthropic pursuits, Iorio has joined Project Arrow. The project plans to build Canada’s first zero-emission vehicle. He said that cryptocurrency can just help with a small number of the world’s issues:

“I want to diversify to not being a crypto guy, but being a guy tackling complex problems. I will incorporate crypto when needed, but a lot of times, it’s not … It’s really a small percentage of what the world needs.”

Among Ethereum’s 8 co-founders, just Vitalik Buterin is still actively working on the blockchain platform.

Gavin Wood and Charles Hoskinson have now started working on rival blockchains, namely Polkadot and Cardano. Joseph Lubin and Mihai Alisie launched companies to focus on Ethereum applications and development, launching ConsenSys and AKASHA Project respectively.

The other founders, Jeffrey Wilcke and Amir Chetrit have also made similar moves to Di Iorio by leaving crypto to focus on other sectors.