Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      Public money, private plans: MPs demand Post Office transparency

      13 June 2025

      Coal to cash: South Africa gets major boost for energy shift

      13 June 2025

      China is behind in AI chips – but for how much longer?

      13 June 2025

      Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

      13 June 2025

      10 red flags for Apple investors

      13 June 2025
    • World

      Yahoo tries to make its mail service relevant again

      13 June 2025

      Qualcomm shows off new chip for AI smart glasses

      11 June 2025

      Trump tariffs to dim 2025 smartphone shipments

      4 June 2025

      Shrimp Jesus and the AI ad invasion

      4 June 2025

      Apple slams EU rules as ‘flawed and costly’ in major legal pushback

      2 June 2025
    • In-depth

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025

      Digital fortress: We go inside JB5, Teraco’s giant new AI-ready data centre

      30 May 2025

      Sam Altman and Jony Ive’s big bet to out-Apple Apple

      22 May 2025

      South Africa unveils big state digital reform programme

      12 May 2025

      Is this the end of Google Search as we know it?

      12 May 2025
    • TCS

      TechCentral Nexus S0E1: Starlink, BEE and a new leader at Vodacom

      8 June 2025

      TCS+ | The future of mobile money, with MTN’s Kagiso Mothibi

      6 June 2025

      TCS+ | AI is more than hype: Workday execs unpack real human impact

      4 June 2025

      TCS | Sentiv, and the story behind the buyout of Altron Nexus

      3 June 2025

      TCS | Signal restored: Unpacking the Blue Label and Cell C turnaround

      28 May 2025
    • Opinion

      Beyond the box: why IT distribution depends on real partnerships

      2 June 2025

      South Africa’s next crisis? Being offline in an AI-driven world

      2 June 2025

      Digital giants boost South African news media – and get blamed for it

      29 May 2025

      Solar panic? The truth about SSEG, fines and municipal rules

      14 April 2025

      Data protection must be crypto industry’s top priority

      9 April 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » Cryptocurrencies » Ethereum founder says Facebook is on a losing crypto wicket

    Ethereum founder says Facebook is on a losing crypto wicket

    By Agency Staff19 August 2021
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp
    Vitalik Buterin. Image: John Phillips/Getty Images (for TechCrunch), CC BY 2.0

    Jack Dorsey and Mark Zuckerberg may be making big plans in the cryptocurrency space, but Vitalik Buterin doesn’t see them as likely to gain much traction.

    The engineer widely recognised as the inventor of ethereum, the world’s most-used blockchain, cast doubt on Square CEO Dorsey’s plan for the company to create a new business focused on decentralised financial services that uses bitcoin. The largest cryptocurrency, Buterin said in an interview on Bloomberg Television, doesn’t really have the functionality to do that as it was designed largely to be a “currency of the house”.

    “On ethereum there’s native functionality that allows you to essentially directly put ETH or ethereum-based assets into these smart contracts, into these lock boxes, where there’s then arbitrary conditions that can govern how those assets get released,” said Buterin, who is one of crypto’s most well-known developers. “Jack is basically going to have to essentially create his own system that enforces those rules.”

    Zuckerberg’s idea to turn his Facebook into a ‘metaverse company’ was also met with scepticism by the crypto mogul

    Zuckerberg’s idea to turn his Facebook into a “metaverse company” was also met with scepticism by the crypto mogul. Zuckerberg is clearly trying to anticipate the next phase of the Internet “before the rest of the world goes in some different direction and Facebook is sort of left in the dust”, Buterin said. He noted that Zuckerberg has also been involved with the widely scrutinised Facebook-backed cryptocurrency project libra — now called diem.

    There’s “just a huge amount of mistrust” about Facebook, Buterin said, so constructing its own platform could prove ill-fated. He recommended Zuckerberg build on the existing blockchain instead.

    Disruption

    Blockchain and crypto have grown rapidly over the past decade, with concepts that are beginning to challenge dominant players in areas like finance, technology and consumer products. Established companies from Facebook and Twitter to JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs Group have been working on ways to incorporate blockchain into their existing businesses. But many young, fast-moving companies have sprung up in the space that show potential for disruption.

    Buterin says blockchain technology poses a major threat to Facebook, Twitter and other social networks. He said we could see the established companies eventually losing out to the upstarts.

    And he continues to have big plans for the ethereum network. When asked where he sees it in five to 10 years, Buterin replied: “Hopefully running the metaverse.”  — Reported by Emily Chang and Joanna Ossinger, (c) 2021 Bloomberg LP



    Ethereum Facebook Jack Dorsey Square top Twitter Vitalik Buterin
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleRedPanda Software is looking for IT talent – apply now
    Next Article India quietly readies an Amazon slayer: Open e-commerce

    Related Posts

    Shrimp Jesus and the AI ad invasion

    4 June 2025

    Silicon slip-ups: the tech industry’s biggest flops

    29 May 2025

    Now Facebook wants to … scan your face

    16 May 2025
    Company News

    Huawei Watch Fit 4 Series: smarter sensors, sharper design, stronger performance

    13 June 2025

    Change Logic and BankservAfrica set new benchmark with PayShap roll-out

    13 June 2025

    SAPHILA 2025 – transcending with purpose, connection and AI-powered vision

    13 June 2025
    Opinion

    Beyond the box: why IT distribution depends on real partnerships

    2 June 2025

    South Africa’s next crisis? Being offline in an AI-driven world

    2 June 2025

    Digital giants boost South African news media – and get blamed for it

    29 May 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.