"Why Are You There, Hyung?" Ethereum Founder Buterin Spotted in Pangyo

Appearance Strolling Around Pangyo Spreads on SNS
Recently Attended as a Speaker at an IT Event Held in Korea

Vitalik Buterin, the creator of the cryptocurrency Ethereum (ETH), has recently been spotted in the Pangyo area of Seongnam City, Gyeonggi Province, sparking attention as eyewitness accounts spread on social media (SNS).

On the 30th, videos of Buterin were uploaded on SNS showing him around various locations in Pangyo, where many IT companies are concentrated. Buterin was seen wearing a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, walking around, drinking coffee at a cafe, and looking at a laptop.

Netizens reacted with comments such as "Why is this person in Korea?" and "It's surprising to see a chaebol drinking coffee at a small neighborhood cafe."

Vitalik Buterin giving a lecture on Ethereum at an event held in Seoul in 2017
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Born in 1994, Buterin is a Russian-Canadian programmer. He showed genius in mathematics, computer science, and economics from an early age, entering a gifted class in elementary school. At 19, he founded Ethereum, a blockchain-based cryptocurrency. The following year, he caused a stir in the industry by winning the IT software category at the ‘World Technology Awards,’ jointly hosted by Forbes and Time, surpassing Mark Zuckerberg, then founder of Facebook (now Meta CEO).

In January 2018, Buterin ranked 18th on Forbes' list of the world's richest cryptocurrency holders. In May 2021, thanks to the rise in Ethereum's value, he became the youngest cryptocurrency billionaire. Ethereum currently holds the second-largest cryptocurrency market capitalization after Bitcoin.

Buterin, who was spotted in Korea, attended the keynote speech at the web3 conference ‘BUIDL Asia 2024’ held on the 27th in Songpa-gu, Seoul, and on the 30th, he gave a keynote lecture at ‘ETH Seoul 2024’ held at the Neowiz Pangyo office in Seongnam City.

Meanwhile, Ethereum has recently shown strength in line with Bitcoin’s upward trend. According to CoinMarketCap at 9:02 a.m. on the 31st, Ethereum was trading at $3,507, down 0.06% from the previous day. This price is 5.08% higher than a week ago.