Did Ethereum almost not exist? Vitalik Buterin was invited to join Coinbase but missed out due to a US visa issue!

On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of Ethereum, a long-buried past has been revealed, adding a dramatic "what if" to this magnificent history of Crypto Assets. Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, disclosed that just before the birth of Ethereum, he had invited its founder, Vitalik Buterin, to join Coinbase. However, ultimately, a small U.S. visa unexpectedly changed the landscape of the entire Blockchain world.

This historic crossroads not only allows us to know the naive interactions of the giants during the early stages of their entrepreneurial journeys, but also raises a curious question: If Vitalik Buterin had smoothly obtained his visa back then, would Ethereum, known today as the "world computer," still exist?

A visa that changed the world

The story dates back to 2013, when the crypto world was still entirely dominated by Bitcoin. According to Armstrong's recollection, his first encounter with Vitalik Buterin was at a Bitcoin conference held in San Jose, California. At that time, Vitalik Buterin was still an author contributing to Bitcoin Magazine, and his profound and outstanding writing left a deep impression on Armstrong.

Shortly after the meeting, Armstrong invited the talented young man to visit the first office of Coinbase in San Francisco. In that somewhat humble office, Vitalik Buterin presented some of his innovative technical ideas to Armstrong and the team members at the time, including Fred Ehrsam, who later became a co-founder of Paradigm. Everyone present was impressed by Vitalik Buterin's vision and intelligence, and after a discussion among the three, they extended an olive branch to the young man, officially inviting him to join the Coinbase team.

For Coinbase, which was just getting started at the time, recruiting talents like Vitalik Buterin was undoubtedly a significant boost. For Vitalik Buterin, joining Coinbase, which was already an industry star at that time, seemed like a natural choice. However, the script of fate quietly turned at this moment.

The seemingly imminent "dream recruitment" ultimately fell through due to a very real issue—visa. Armstrong lamented in a post that, due to a series of reasons, Vitalik Buterin was ultimately unable to smoothly obtain a work visa for the United States and had to return to his hometown in Canada.

It was precisely this seemingly helpless interlude that became a key catalyst for the birth of Ethereum. Armstrong summarized this history with a half-joking, half-sentimental remark: "He created Ethereum while stranded in Canada. So, to some extent, it was the imperfect immigration system of the United States that contributed to the birth of Ethereum."

This post quickly attracted over a million views and discussions in the community. Countless people marvel at the randomness of this piece of history, with one user commenting: "What’s surprising is that a visa issue has shaped the future of Crypto Assets. Sometimes, resistance instead fosters innovation."

Armstrong's words have also sparked reflection and criticism of the U.S. immigration system. Many believe that the rigid system has caused the U.S. to miss countless top talents like Vitalik Buterin, and these geniuses who have been "turned away" ultimately flourish elsewhere, giving rise to innovations capable of changing the world.

Looking back, this rejected visa may be the most expensive and fruitful "rejection" in the history of Crypto Assets. It pushed Vitalik Buterin away from a path that could have made him a core member of a top exchange, towards a more arduous yet grander path of a pioneer.

Refined Ethereum

Fortunately, history has no "what ifs." It is precisely because of that "missed opportunity" back then that the world has been able to witness the birth and growth of Ethereum. Over the past decade, Ethereum has evolved from a white paper by Vitalik Buterin into a global value network with nearly $130 billion in economic security, hosting a thriving ecosystem of decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and countless Web3 applications.

Standing at the starting line of its tenth anniversary, Ethereum has not slowed down. Recently, the Ethereum Foundation released a declaration titled "Lean Ethereum," outlining a grand development blueprint for the world's most active public chain over the next decade.

The core of this blueprint is the dual-engine strategy of "Fortress Mode" and "Beast Mode": Fortress Mode - Building a Quantum Secure Defense Line: This is the main defense line of Ethereum. In the face of future cracking threats posed by quantum computing, Ethereum plans to introduce "post-quantum cryptography" at the protocol level, such as employing hash function-based signing and commitment mechanisms to establish an impenetrable quantum secure defense line for the entire network in advance. Beast Mode - Unlocking Millions of TPS: This is the main expansion line of Ethereum. The plan proposes ambitious performance goals, aiming to increase the processing capacity of Layer 1 (mainnet) to 10,000 TPS (transactions per second), and through the collaboration of Layer 2 (second-layer expansion solutions), ultimately advancing the processing capacity of the entire Ethereum ecosystem to an astonishing level of 1 million transactions per second. Key technologies to achieve this goal will include real-time zkVM (zero-knowledge virtual machine) and Data Availability Sampling.

In order to support these two major strategies, the Ethereum protocol itself will undergo a comprehensive "lean" restructuring at three levels: consensus, data, and execution. This includes the introduction of Beacon Chain 2.0 to shorten transaction finality time, adopting Blobs2.0 format to reduce data costs and enhance quantum resistance, as well as developing a more SNARK-friendly EVM2.0 to unlock more efficient computations.

From randomness to inevitability

Looking back, the birth of Ethereum was full of coincidences. A young genius, an invitation with keen insight, and a rejected visa together crafted a legend that deserves to be recorded in the history of technology. It is hard for us to imagine what the blockchain world would look like today without that twist of fate.

Looking ahead, the road for Ethereum is filled with certainty. This "Lean Ethereum" ten-year blueprint clearly showcases the vision and determination of its builders. It aims not only to address the current scalability bottleneck but also to prepare for the distant quantum threats.

As stated in the manifesto: "This is about heritage. We are builders, we are evangelists, we are Ethereum." From a chance "almost not born" to the grand vision of laying the digital economic infrastructure for the next generation, the story of Ethereum is the best embodiment of the spirit of Blockchain.

#Ethereum 10th Anniversary