Anthony Di Iorio an early Bitcoin adopter and one of those who founded Ethereum in 2014 has made known his plans to diversify from crypto saying he doesn’t feel safe in the space anymore.
According to a report published today in Bloomberg, Anthony Di Iorio, one of Ethereum’s eight co-founders, plans to sell his software development firm, Decentral, and migrate away from non-crypto ventures.
Di Iorio told the publication, “I want to diversify from being a crypto man to being a guy who solves hard problems.”
Di Iorio, a skilled marketer and early Bitcoin adopter who helped spark the creation of Ethereum in 2014, hinted that his departure was partly motivated by concerns about cryptocurrency’s “risk profile.”
“I’m not sure I feel comfortable in this place,” Di Iorio stated. “I suppose I’d be safer if I concentrated on bigger issues.”
Di Iorio launched Decentral in 2014 as an “innovation hub for disruptive and decentralized technologies.” It’s akin to a smaller, Canadian version of ConsenSys, the Ethereum software development business founded by another Ethereum pioneer, Joseph Lubin. (ConsenSys funds a Decrypt that is editorially independent.) The Jaxx Liberty crypto wallet is Decentral’s most popular product.
Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum’s most well-known founder, was a programmer, while co-founders Gavin Wood and Charles Hoskinson, who went on to develop Polkadot and Cardano, respectively, brought technical expertise to the table. Di Iorio, on the other hand, played a banker.
His investment in the creation of Ethereum has paid off, as the currency has soared to new highs this year. Its current market capitalization is $223 billion.
While it’s unclear how much of that Di Iorio owns, Forbes named him a billionaire in 2018, when Ethereum was far cheaper than it is now at $1,900.
Despite the fact that Di Iorio’s resignation coincides with Dogecoin co-founder Jackson Palmer’s tweetstorm about why he’s quitting cryptocurrencies, he doesn’t seem furious with the ecosystem he helped create.
He’s just got a lot of other things he’s interested in. “I’ll embrace crypto when it’s necessary, but it’s not always necessary,” he remarked, referring to future ventures. “It’s only a fraction of what the world requires.”
But, like Palmer, he’s gradually backed away from the space. Di Iorio stepped away from Ethereum once his co-founders decided to go non-profit, according to Camila Russo’s book on the subject, The Infinite Machine.
In 2019, he stepped down as Decentral’s CEO to pursue other opportunities.
