Changpeng Zhao has given a heartfelt nod to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin for his significant influence in the crypto world. Zhao emphasized Buterin’s groundbreaking innovations, such as smart contracts, ERC-20 tokens, and NFTs, as essential elements driving the growth of cryptocurrency. Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the former CEO of Binance, openly praised Buterin for his positive and transformative contributions to the digital asset landscape. This recognition came during a lively exchange on social media platform X, where users were chatting about the most influential figures in cryptocurrency. In his message, CZ pointed out how Buterin’s forward-thinking work has been crucial to the evolution of the entire cryptocurrency ecosystem. He specifically mentioned Buterin’s innovations as key factors that have propelled the industry to its current stature. His tweet read, “Crypto would not be the size it is today without Vitalik’s contributions: smart contracts, ERC20, NFTs, SBT, L2, and much more. As for me, I’m just a pleb still learning about blockchain.” This interaction marks a moment of mutual respect between two industry leaders who have each played vital roles in bringing cryptocurrency into the mainstream.
Buterin’s Innovations: Laying the Groundwork for Crypto
CZ highlighted several of Buterin’s innovative contributions. Smart contracts, a standout feature of Ethereum, have transformed the industry by enabling decentralized applications (dApps). These self-executing contracts serve as the backbone for many blockchain-based services today. Another significant innovation is the ERC-20 token standard, which empowers developers to create their own cryptocurrencies on the Ethereum network. This standard has opened the floodgates for thousands of altcoins and decentralized finance (DeFi) projects. Buterin also played a pivotal role in the emergence of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) through the ERC-721 standard, which has redefined digital ownership and creativity. Moreover, Ethereum’s layer-2 solutions, like rollups, have tackled scalability challenges by lowering transaction fees and enhancing efficiency. CZ believes these innovations have fueled the rapid expansion of the crypto industry, and he feels Buterin deserves all the accolades for that. As of now, Ethereum is trading at $2,174.35, down 6.11%, with a trading volume of $21.54B.
CZ’s Reflections on His Journey
CZ humbly downplayed his own contributions, referring to himself as “a pleb still learning about blockchain.” Despite being a significant player in the crypto arena, he recently mentioned that he has no intentions of launching a new crypto project. He confirmed this while engaging in a conversation with Cryptoking, stating, “Let’s do that for DeFi now. People will say, ‘A bit late?’ They also said in 2017, ‘There’s no room for another exchange. It’s all done.’ I won’t start a new project. I’ll support other founders.” CZ and Buterin first crossed paths at a Bitcoin conference in 2013, where CZ recalled having doubts about Ethereum’s Turing-complete language.
