#美联储FOMC会议 Programmer and the Digital Operating System He Built

If we are to find a watershed moment in the technological evolution of the crypto world, around 2015 is a key point. At that time, a young man born in Moscow in 1994, who moved to Canada with his parents at age 4, released a game-changing document.

This person is Vitalik Buterin.

【From Game Mechanics to Trust Encoded in Code】

The story begins with World of Warcraft. At 17, after his beloved character was nerfed by the developers, he suddenly realized a question: why are all the rules dictated by one company? This question pushed him into the world of Bitcoin.

But after studying Bitcoin’s design, he had a new idea—Bitcoin solved the digital cash problem, but why not make it more versatile? Why can’t blockchain do more than just transfer funds, and run other programs?

At 19, he wrote the Ethereum White Paper. The core idea was simple: build a global, shared, unstoppable computer.

【How Technology Reshapes Possibility】

What has smart contracts changed?

The most direct: code becomes rules that can execute automatically. You don’t need to trust intermediaries or wait for manual approval—when conditions are met, the contract executes automatically. Finance, insurance, supply chains… all trust-dependent scenarios are rewritten.

This led to explosive growth of the DApp ecosystem. DeFi lending, NFT trading, DAO community operations… these services that traditionally required large companies are now accessible directly through smart contracts. Some say this is a decentralized redo of the internet, and it’s not an exaggeration.

【A Real Tech Leader】

Unlike the mysterious identity of Bitcoin’s creator, Buterin frequently appears at various tech conferences. His signature black T-shirt, obsessive discussions on cryptography details, and even communicating with the global community in Chinese—these details make him seem more like a pure tech geek than a deity on a pedestal.

【Now in Progress】

Since launching in 2015, Ethereum has become the most important blockchain infrastructure besides Bitcoin. Market size, ecosystem applications, number of developers… each continues to evolve.

Technology itself has no endpoint. Buterin is still pushing Ethereum into its next phase, whether it’s scalability or energy efficiency improvements. That’s why the story of the crypto world is far from over.

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