The Defiant: Vitalik May Not Love DeFi, But He Uses It

Ethereum chief scientist and co-founder Vitalik Buterin has not been shy about critiquing decentralized finance (DeFi), but an in-depth look at his on-chain activity tells a different story.

Buterin remains a regular DeFi user, with $9.2 million spread across major DeFi protocols like Aave and MakerDAO.

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Igor Barinov, founder and CEO of Blockscout, an open-source block explorer for Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) based chains, said Buterin sees DeFi as just one small part of the Ethereum ecosystem.

“It’s blown out of proportion that he is anti-DeFi — he just uses DeFi platforms that have a track record along with real utility for what he needs,” Barinov told The Defiant. “It’s likely he’s disappointed that the transformative technology of Ethereum is being primarily used to enrich a few, and bankrupt many in a giant ponzi casino.”

Barinov noted that Buterin’s vision for Ethereum is far broader than DeFi.