Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of the Ethereum blockchain platform, is the latest casualty in the dramatic collapse of crypto fortunes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not a billionaire anymore,\u201d Buterin, 28, wrote in a Twitter post.<\/p>\n Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin has been caught up the crypto meltdown.<\/span>Credit:<\/span>Bloomberg<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Buterin created Ethereum in 2014 and is the owner of a digital wallet that as recently as November contained holdings worth about $US1.5 billion ($2.1 billion). Since then, the price of the Ether token that\u2019s associated with the blockchain has fallen by 55 per cent.<\/p>\n Buterin has previously suggested he\u2019d welcome lower prices of digital coins, telling Bloomberg News in February: \u201cThe people who are deep into crypto, and especially building things, a lot of them welcome a bear market.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Crypto holdings have been pummeled by a steep drop in prices of digital currencies and the turmoil engulfing the algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD and its Luna token<\/a>. Changpeng Zhao, founder of the crypto exchange Binance, has seen more than $US80 billion — or 84 per cent of his wealth — evaporate this year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He debuted on the wealth index in January with a net worth of $US96 billion, one of the world\u2019s largest. It has shrunk to around $US15 billion.<\/p>\n Loading<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Some ultra-wealthy crypto backers have professed humility amid the upheaval. Michael Novogratz, founder of crypto merchant bank Galaxy, acknowledged that TerraUSD was \u201ca big idea that failed.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Novogratz, a former hedge fund trader, blamed the challenging global macro backdrop, and said the coin\u2019s collapse dented confidence in the cryptocurrency and decentralised finance space. Novogratz said Galaxy Digital first invested in Terraform Labs in the fourth quarter of 2020. Novogratz described how the downward pressure on reserve assets and UST withdrawals triggered \u201ca stress scenario akin to a \u2018run on the bank.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe reserves weren\u2019t enough to prevent UST\u2019s collapse,\u201d Novogratz wrote. \u201cWith hindsight things always look clearer.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>