Vitalik Buterin reiterates that his influence on Ethereum (ETH) is minimal as the merger draws closer

As Ethereum (ETH) moves towards a Merger, blockchain co-founder Vitalik Buterin reiterated that his influence on the network has continued to dwindle over the past two years as many new developers take on multiple roles.

In an interview with business blogger Noah Smith, Buterin said he’s long wanted Ethereum to evolve into an ecosystem “where my influence can wane just because so many other voices start speaking out.”

“In 2015, I was basically doing 80% of the ‘research’ on Ethereum, and I was even doing a lot of the Python coding. In 2017, I was doing a lot less coding, and maybe 70% of the research. In 2020, I was doing maybe a third of the research now, and very little coding. But I was still involved in most of the “high-level theorizing”. The level is an area that is slowly but surely slipping away from me,” he reportedly said.

According to him, new ETH researchers, like Polynya, have gradually taken a prominent place in the direction of thinking about Ethereum scaling solutions.

“People like [ barryWhiteHat ] and Brian Gu have taken over zero-knowledge proof technology, and Justin and Dankrad, initially engaged as researchers, have gradually established themselves as thought leaders as well,” according to Buterin.

While the programmer didn’t specify which projects he’s currently working on, he did mention his latest interests and inspirations.

“In science, advances in biotechnology and AI have been amazing – in the latter case, some might say, maybe a little too amazing. 21st-century technology, and how each of the elements we’re working on is going to fit into the picture,” he reportedly said.

At the same time, as we reported, Buterin has joined the race for this year’s cryptocurrency bestseller with the upcoming publication of Proof of Stake, a compilation of his writings on cryptocurrencies. ten years, in physical and digital book form on September 27.