Vitalik Buterin – the Canadian-Russian crypto entrepreneur widely credited for bringing Ethereum, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap and the primary competitor to bitcoin to the digital market – has warned traders and digital asset enthusiasts everywhere that virtual wallets aren’t as safe as they could be. He’s now pushing for the simplification of digital currency wallet technology, which he believes is not always kind to first-time traders and crypto holders.
Vitalik Buterin on the Safety of Crypto Wallets
Buterin has made a real name for himself in the world of digital assets. Aside from making Ethereum a reality, the developer consistently provides his input on what is needed to ensure the space always remains secure and up to date. For example, not long ago Buterin commented that Ethereum was no longer scalable, and that it’s popularity was, in a way, working against it.
In recent years, the currency’s blockchain has become the go-to source for developers of decentralized applications (dapps) and new currencies thanks, in part, to its abilities with smart contracts. While this has made the currency and its respective technology big attention getters in the industry, it has also bogged down Ethereum somewhat thanks to heavy traffic and high gas fees. As a result, Buterin stated that Ethereum was no longer scalable.
This ultimately caused him to introduce Ethereum 2.0, a new form of blockchain for the asset that would help with the primary technology’s lack of speed and stamina. Much like the Lightning Network is designed to do for bitcoin, Ethereum 2.0 is built to ensure the ETH blockchain remains at the top of its game and maintains its level of scalability. He also says the new technology will ensure transaction costs stay low in the future.
At a recent conference, Buterin commented that wallets are capable of breaking, which means large amounts of cryptocurrency can ultimately get lost and disappear for good. He’s concerned that not much is being done to address this problem, stating:
In my opinion, we don’t talk about the security issues enough because no one is willing to admit they lost $200,000 because if you admit you lost $200,000, you look like an idiot.
We Aren’t Fixing This Problem!
He says that at the time of writing, many people are still convinced that crypto loss is a small problem, but this is only because those who have lost money in the past aren’t likely to step forward and discuss what went wrong out of fear of looking foolish. He says that billions of dollars in crypto funds have vanished for good in recent years, and believes things need to be toned down:
The fact is that even if you are a super genius or capable of being really careful, the reality is a system that requires you to expend less effort on not losing your stuff is a better system.
