Vitalik Buterin is the co-founder of the Ethereum project and one of the earliest publications focused on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin Magazine. 

Buterin had learnt about Bitcoin from his father, and caught the attention of Mihai Alisie, another enthusiast of Bitcoin and the other founder of Bitcoin Magazine. Together, they launched Bitcoin Magazine in 2012, with Buterin being the lead writer. Bitcoin Magazine continues to run and is overseen by BTC Media.

Buterin published the Ethereum white paper in 2013, the biggest step in cryptocurrencies since the launch of Bitcoin. With the white paper, Buterin introduced the concept of smart contracts, a feature that is now present in hundreds of cryptocurrencies. Dropping out of college after having received the Thiel Fellowship, Buterin began working on Ethereum full-time.

Ethereum was co-founded by Buterin, Gavin Wood and Joseph Lubin; the latter two are still heavily involved in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry. Buterin’s key contribution was the development of a scripting language that allowed for much more versatility on what could be done on blockchains, most notably decentralized applications, or DAPPs.

Ethereum continues to work on the development of Ethereum and is one of the most notable individuals in the space. Ethereum is soon to release ETH 2.0, an updated version of Ethereum that overcomes scalability and performance issues.