Days after Ethereum co-founder Jackson Palmer slammed the cryptocurrency industry in a series of tweets, another crypto entrepreneur and co-founder of Ethereum Anthony Di lorio has said that he is “quitting” the industry.
The reason? Partially due to personal safety concerns among other things, Bloomberg reported.
The 48-year-old Canadian has had a security team since 2017. Di lorio said the crypto industry has a “risk profile I am not too enthused about”, adding: “I don’t feel necessarily safe in this space. If I was focused on larger problems, I think I’d be safer.”
Di lorio said he will “sever ties” with crypto startups he’s involved in and will not invest in any more blockchain projects. He however refused to disclose his net worth or crypto holdings.
Forbes estimated his net worth at $1 billion in February 2018 – and price of Ether (Ethereum’s token) has since doubled.
Among the assets he plans to sell includes software development company Decentral, which is the maker of digital asset wallet Jaxx. Di Iorio said he has already spoken to potential investors and is confident the company will be worth “hundreds of millions”. He is notably seeking an equity deal, not crypto.
“I want to diversify to not being a crypto guy, but being a guy tackling complex problems. I will incorporate crypto when needed, but a lot of times, it’s not. It’s really a small percentage of what the world needs,” Di Iorio said.
The entrepreneur made headlines for buying one of the most expensive condos in Canada at the St. Regis Residences Toronto for $22 million in 2018 – partly using cryptocurrency. Di lorio co-founded Ethereum in 2013. Ether now has market value of around $225 billion, the report noted.
Notably, Di lorio's comments come only days after Dogecoin co-founder Jackson Palmer slammed the cryptocurrency industry and said that he would not return to it. He explained his decision in a series of tweets calling cryptocurrency “an inherently right-wing, hyper-capitalistic technology.”
He added that it is “built primarily to amplify the wealth of its proponents through a combination of tax avoidance, diminished regulatory oversight and artificially enforced scarcity.”
While Palmer wasn’t the first, he is a significant critic, brought the focus back to the dark side of cryptocurrency and whether it lives up to the potential of becoming a legal tender as few countries are moving in the direction to do so.