Ethereum Co-founder Vitalik Buterin Receives Father’s Backing in Criticizing Putin And Russia

The Co-Founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin has taken a clear political stand concerning the Russia-Ukraine war. The Russian-born Canadian citizen has written a few posts on Twitter criticizing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

However, he made his stand even clearer with a more recent Twitter post he wrote in Russian. Before doing that, the 28-year old sought his father’s opinion, not just on the accuracy of his written Russian but also expressing his fears about the consequences of writing the post.

“Vitalik said, ‘Dad, I want to write this social-media post, and I am scared to write it, but I really want to do it,’” his father, who is also a vocal Putin critic, told Financial Post.

Buterin’s father has been very supportive as far as speaking out against Putin’s activities goes. He says that Vatalik’s stand is being challenged by some people in Russia who live in Putin’s “state-dominated, propaganda-saturated domestic bubble” where “white” is seen as “black” and “black” is seen as “white”.

“At the end of the day, Vitalik is Russian, he is Russian speaking, and things have changed,” his father said. “That’s what leadership is: we have to be clear about what we believe in. We have to stand up, and Vitalik has said, ‘I stand for human values, I stand for peace,’ and there are a bunch of people in the crypto space in Russia giving him flack for it,” he said.

His father further said:

“This is the first time he (Vitalik) has taken such a clear political stand.”

Criticizing Russia and supporting Ukraine

Vitalik hasn’t only criticized Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but has also contributed to making life better for the victims of the Russian attacks. So far, he has donated $2.5 million in Ethereum to Aid For Ukraine and another $2.5 million in Ethereum to UnchainFund, a charity project created by blockchain activists to support Ukraine with humanitarian aid.

“VitalikButerin donated almost $2.5M in ETH to @_AidForUkraine 2 days ago, and didn’t say a word! He’s also donated $2.5M to @Unchainfund. Thanks for your enormous help, Vitalik, and thank you for creating @ethereum! The #Ethereum community is,” a recent post on the Aid For Ukraine Twitter handle said.

The Ethereum Co-Founder promoted this fundraiser in which funds were raised in ETH to support Ukrainian civilians. The fundraiser has raised at least $7 million and clearly, he has contributed majorly towards the cause while challenging Russians on social media to take a side and not sit on the fence.

Like father like son

The senior Buterin, Vitalik’s semi-retired father, is known for his open criticism of Putin. Until recently though, Vitalik was only known to tweet about Ethereum and crypto. Things changed when Putin decided to invade Ukraine, at which point he started speaking out, just like his father.

“Ethereum is neutral, but I am not.” was one of his first posts following the invasion, and he has progressively spoken out against the matter.

Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Vitalik urged Russia not to go to war: “An attack on Ukraine can only harm Russia, Ukraine, and humanity. Whether the situation can return to a peaceful path or a war can now be decided not by Zelensky, not by NATO, but by the Kremlin. I hope they choose wisely.” 

But as the war started he wrote in Russian that he is “Very upset by Putin’s decision to abandon the possibility of a peaceful solution to the dispute with Ukraine and go to war instead. This is a crime against the Ukrainian and Russian people.”