Vitalik Buterin - Creator of Ethereum, Talking NFTs & More Ft. Naval Ravikant | The Tim Ferriss Show

Vitalik Buterin, Creator of Ethereum, on Understanding Ethereum, ETH vs. BTC, ETH2, Scaling Plans and Timelines, NFTs, Future Considerations, Life Extension, and More (Featuring Naval Ravikant) | Brought by Wealthfront (wealthfront.com/tim), Pique‘s Daily Immune (piquetea.com/Tim), Theragun (theragun.com/tim).
Show Notes: tim.blog/2021/03/08/vitalik-b...
Vitalik Buterin (@VitalikButerin) is the creator of Ethereum. He first discovered blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies through Bitcoin in 2011 and was immediately excited by the technology and its potential. He co-founded Bitcoin Magazine in September 2011, and after two and a half years of looking at what the existing blockchain technology and applications had to offer, wrote the Ethereum white paper in November of 2013. He now leads Ethereum’s research team, working on future versions of the Ethereum protocol. In 2014, Vitalik was a recipient of the two-year Thiel Fellowship, tech billionaire Peter Thiel’s project that awards $100,000 to 20 promising innovators under 20 so they can pursue their inventions in lieu of a post-secondary institution path. You can find his website at Vitalik.ca.
Naval Ravikant (@naval) is the co-founder and chairman of AngelList. He is an angel investor and has invested in more than 100 companies, including many mega-successes, such as Twitter, Uber, Notion, Opendoor, Postmates, and Wish. You can subscribe to Naval, his podcast on wealth and happiness, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also find his blog at nav.al.
Please enjoy!
00:00 Start
10:47 Ethereum vs. Bitcoin
20:54 Intellectual property in blockchain
25:30 Digital nationalism
27:53 Ethereum: concept to current day
34:21: Making Ethereum scale
41:45: Proof of stake
45:54: Layer 2 vs. layer 1
01:01:42: When Vitalik disagrees with developers
01:03:02 Organizational coexistence within Ethereum
01:05:24: Blockchain tokens are like fire.
01:13:14: Cryptocurrencies and regulation
01:23:08: Wealth inequality
01:30:30: Quadratic funding
01:39:23: Naval on campaign financing
01:40:17: Scientific research Vitalik supports + living to 1,000
01:49:54: Vitalik’s predictions
01:52:09: Vitalik’s advice to newcomers and language learners
SUBSCRIBE: bit.ly/1dSzTkW
LINK TO ALL SHOW TRANSCRIPTS: tim.blog/2018/09/20/all-trans...
About Tim Ferriss:
Tim Ferriss is one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People” and an early-stage tech investor/advisor in Uber, Facebook, Twitter, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and 50+ other companies. He is also the author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers: The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, The 4-Hour Chef, Tools of Titans and Tribe of Mentors. The Observer and other media have named him “the Oprah of audio” due to the influence of his podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show, which has exceeded 500 million downloads and been selected for “Best of Apple Podcasts” three years running.
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[@whoaokay3559]

9:12 is when it actually starts

[@BradKaellner]

Saved me 9 minutes!

[@pyramidion5911]

Thank you 🙏

[@3lupon]

Thank. You.

[@RunwithSung]

Thank you!

[@TheJpwzrd]

Love you

[@serval8951]

Playback speed: Tim: 2X Naval: 1.25X Vitalik: 0.75 X

[@jacktesoro7420]

Lol tru

[@dorottyaudvardy]

Hahaaa right 😅

[@Veneer22]

GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I love this! They are all actually robots. This is how the conversation happened IRL and Tim slows it down for us peons to listen to at a normal speed.

[@OGBhyve]

Vitalik thinks deeply when speaking

[@TobySillence]

Best interview with Vitalik that I have heard. Naval does a great job of helping to translate and understand what Vitlaik is saying. Vitlaik is like an Alien Robot. Love him!

[@arimichael2499]

I HEARD THIS DUDE SPEAK LIKE 4 MONTHS AGO AND WAS LIKE OK IM INVESTING IN THIS DUDE BECAUSE HES AN ALIEN FROM THE FUTURE LOL. SO FAR SO GOOD :)

[@danielr9112]

Thanks for this, I swear I was worried that I was more stupid than I previous thought of because It's so difficult to follow his way of thinking. Basically I'm glad to not be the only one. I've listened to many interviews of Vitalik and is admirable, respectful and I believe he is, and will make the world a much greater and fare place.

[@ben_west]

Listen to his interviews on Lex Friedman. Even deeper dive and I think he does a great job of being clear and understandable. So glad Tim keeps pushing the envelope and sharing visionary ideas with his audience.

[@deanmindock3680]

@@danielr9112 He is like the Elon Musk of blockchain.

[@Cushingish]

@@arimichael2499 He 's a Cyborg created as a Transhuman experiment.

[@RadicalNuance]

These ads are brutal, you came here for 9:00

[@trancetuberevived1131]

Yes but have you tried the elderberry flavioured vita drops?

[@SumitSinghaModak]

What is Ethereum, and how does it differ from Bitcoin? [10:47] Ethereum applications Vitalik is most excited about. [14:48] What is DeFi? [18:41] How does intellectual property retain its value in such an interconnected system? [20:54] Digital nationalism, castles made of math, and comparing and contrasting how Ethereum and WordPress operate. [25:30] What was the initial vision for Ethereum, and what has Vitalik found most surprising about how it’s been used between concept and the current day? [27:53] Addressing the challenges of making Ethereum scale: enter Ethereum 2. [34:21] What does proof-of-stake mean in the context of the blockchain, and why is its efficiency debated? [41:45] How layer 2 operates more efficiently than layer 1, and to what degree when you factor in rollups and future computational capacity. [45:54] When can people betting their businesses on these improvements realistically expect them to be implemented? Is there a risk that some people won’t want to make the transition, and could this cause problems down the line? [54:37] As someone who prefers to coordinate rather than dictate, what happens when Vitalik disagrees with the way developers utilize Ethereum? [1:01:42] How the Ethereum Foundation, ConsenSys, and Uniswap (to name just a few organizations and applications) coexist and collaborate within the Ethereum community and how this dynamic differs from the Bitcoin ecosystem. [1:03:02] How tokens on the blockchain are like fire: crucial to progress but not without their own dangers. It really depends on the motivations of the person using them. [1:05:24] On the sovereign-resistant resilience of cryptocurrencies in the face of regulation and how some authorities are coming around to the idea that blockchain technologies can be useful. [1:13:14] What is Vitalik’s current point of view about where the ETH supply heads and what the ETH price means for the ecosystem? [1:18:05] As someone who’s concerned about wealth inequality, what does Vitalik think about the distribution of wealth in a crypto-run economy as opposed to an economy based on a fiat currency like the US dollar or the Euro? [1:23:08] These days, what’s Vitalik thinking about that falls outside the cryptosphere? [1:28:12] What is quadratic funding, and can it be done anonymously? [1:30:30] How quadratic funding can be combined with other means to finance scientific research. [1:35:39] Naval’s thoughts on campaign financing following a similar approach. [1:39:23] What areas of scientific research is Vitalik most interested in supporting? [1:40:17] What is Vitalik doing to live to 1,000 (and beyond), and what would he improve in the area of scientific research? [1:42:49] After 2020’s tumultuous changes, does Vitalik have ideas of where the world is headed in the next few years that his peers might disagree with? [1:49:54] What advice does Vitalik have for someone who wants to get involved in the Ethereum ecosystem? What are the points of leverage? [1:52:09] Another contrarian thing Vitalik believes. [1:55:57] As a lover of language learning, how does Vitalik recommend someone begin learning a language most effectively? [2:01:32] Parting thoughts. [2:04:54]

[@crazyballs9]

Amazing! Thanks 🙏

[@dbirznieks9355]

Vitalik - One of the greatest intellects of our time and he’s 27 - interviewed by one of the smartest communicators / explainers of science - Naval - together with one of the most curious and smart laymen. Love it.

[@solowarrior1145]

Vitalk is a super genius. & I love how Naval, not so much translated, but made buterins information more digestible to the average Joe. This conversation should be a NFT. I will have to give it a couple listens to let it fully sink in.

[@wasimshaikh1665]

Whoever coded Vitalik is really smart.

[@totaleXess]

Holy shit... can't believe you got these guys together

[@mohitjain6235]

I think Vitalik is one of the few persons where I’ve to reduce the playback speed from 1x.

[@RedSoulful]

One thing that really amazes me about this guest is the fact that - even though he's one of the smartest people in the world - Vitalik actually takes time to listen to your questions and ratiocinates about it before he answers. He doesn't spit pre-made sentences that don't answer to the question at all, like most Podcast guests do. One of the most intersting guests you can have right now. Great episode.

[@DannyMiranda]

I’m always confused how little views these get for how valuable they are

[@Learningthroughteaching]

People chase hype and crowd preferences , not the actual architects of the ideas that catapulted the object of speculation.

[@PhallicDivinity]

The techy, in the weeds crowd is very niche.

[@_r_o_w_]

They might have more views in podcast form, not youtube

[@missionpupa]

because they dont have thumbnails with their fat ass heads that that looks like they shoved a cactus up their butt. Retail dont care about this stuff, thats why they chase the fomo.

[@Dudewhoswinning]

people listen to this on many differenit platforms. This is probably only a fraction of the views

[@anniemal9312]

Vitalik, never heard of him, and the more I watch and listen to him, the more I'm loving this dude. What a great mind and a good heart.

[@pjcollazo8318]

Wow, I didn't expect this guest! Nice work!

[@TylerSinden]

You're an inspiration, Tim! I love everything that you do, one of my favorite podcasts to listen to!

[@tubytootoo]

I stopped listening to Tim’s podcast a while ago. Not sure what it is but found the combination of insane amounts of ads and formula interviews difficult to sit through. Now if he can get Naval to sit in on a lot of this stuff I’ll definitely start listening. This was a fine interview. I learned a lot.

[@Val-sl6ng]

This is such an amazing source of insights, those 3 gentlemen extracting their knowledge and their vision for the good of the community, just brilliant! Thanks so much!

[@camraid9]

The Nick Szabo episode was amazing. Would love you to have him back.

[@SaintSoldier84]

Two men who have both had a positive impact on my life. @Timferris thank you for 4 hour work week. I read it a decade ago and I've lived so freely ever since. Great perspective, bless you man. And Vitalik, I bought Eth in 2016. Let's go gentlemen!

[@1life530]

When Vitalik said "Sum of all of those..." when asked about his interests outside of crypto, that made my day :'D

[@dustinfusco]

It’s extremely interesting to see how this new decentralized by and for the people technology is coinciding with nations, states and govts basically moving to decentralize in their own way. The world is evolving in a beautiful way.

[@GEN3SISEvolving]

This was an incredibly insightful interview, two great minds meeting

[@theevagoetzeshow]

Super excited for this! Thanks Tim!

[@TylerSinden]

Always exciting to hear one of Tim's podcasts!

[@ProGamerSergiu]

This podcast is legen ... wait for it ... DARY!!!!!!

[@zacke6]

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?! Whos on the next show? - Chomsky n Sowell? JBP and Eric Weinstein? Jesus and Buddha??

[@MrStarnerd]

Yes man! I’m feeling the same way! I couldn’t believe it when I saw all of these coming out!

[@displaychicken]

Ren and Stimpy

[@MoKo1981]

Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote

[@Thomasalbertini]

Jesus and Buddha would be quite a thing

[@BanDieter64]

😅😅😅

[@tubasweb]

Great interview! Keep the crypto interviews coming, please.

[@garnsucceed]

Great interview ETH is massively undervalued

[@TheVancouverJatt]

I ran listening to this podcast and I was soo zoned out haha

[@teeI0ck]

showing an accurate and deep understanding; great perceptive. 💡 Muito obrigado for all the insightful information. 🤝

[@DroneWolfMedia]

Excellent interview. Very informative! Thank you gentlemen!

[@h-bird2966]

Thank you for this interview. It helps me in meaningful ways.

[@BradKaellner]

This episode will go bananas! Can we chop it up into NFTs?

[@Learningthroughteaching]

Yes

[@bennettwaisbren]

Lmao

[@zediogo8860]

buy Banano, the best cryptocurency

[@FizzFizzFizzFizzFizz]

And the first comment...

[@stephenhoffman578]

Lol

[@ckying29]

They brought on Naval to translate robot english to human english

[@bjunjo]

😂

[@ethercept]

Best part is asking Vitalik 'how he learns' ... Great show

[@luke8838]

This is amazing. Vitalik is honestly a genius

[@Lucasvoz]

This was very interesting, we are at the start of something revolutionary and everyone who listened to this has the unique opportunity to be ahead of the curve! I'm excited to learn more about the technology and Ethereum, Vitalik will be playing a big role for years to come, perhaps even millenia;)

[@patrickdewitt1635]

buy and hodl. NEVER SELL YOUR BTC

[@ereek5]

ETH is already worth 425,000% as much as it was 5 years ago... not too sure how ahead of the curve current buyers are from a speculative standpoint.

[@Lucasvoz]

I'm talking about Ethereum and Crypto as a whole, I believe that by learning and understanding the technology we can have a big advantage over people who are less engaged and informed. The investment part is just a fraction of what this technology could become in our society.

[@purpleedition7555]

this talk is worth listening to more than once ;)

[@timeGambler]

Sometimes when Vitalik speaks I can't tell if he's human or machine. I swear he talks via programming the air with vocal chords lol

[@rockon8174]

CIA.

[@paulgomez3318]

Satoshi clone

[@goldenbanjo197]

He’s a fucking nerd. But yeah robot

[@frankymacf]

His audio set-up does him no favours on this one to be fair.

[@buzzlightyearandco]

He's an alien

[@mcdazzlepath7693]

Hey, I`m reading your book at the moment and randomly encountered to this video by searching for Mr. Buterin. Pretty funny. When I`m here I wanted to say thank you for your work and have agreat life! LG Charles

[@JordanBeagle]

Love Naval, listened to his podcast a couple years ago and it was a game changer, Vitalik is a genius but Naval has a certain charisma about him I love

[@jmueller8081]

I have my ETH staked as ETH2, making it illiquid for over a year, and I have to say - totally worth it! I believe in ETH so much, my core motivator for buying into ETH isn’t actually as an investment but to have buy-in into something I think will be foundational - like the web was for many decades. It is an interesting idea to think about the “buy in” of stakers who own ETH actually being a part of the new “mining” network. “Where your treasure is, your heart will follow.”

[@luciaya9946]

they major challenges investors face may range from controlling impulsiveness to the frail of compulsion, most newbies and would be investors often undermine and most often neglect the important of technical analysis with regards to trading .Technical analysis overly predict the movement of asset prices regardless of what is happening in the wider or broader market. Essentially, the process that works well in other to accumulate and grow a very strong portfolio ahead. However,i will advice investors and newbies to take full advantage of the market and to trade with Dr. Roland Lerch involves studying the paths of a particular asset movement in the past do as to establish a sustainable pattern that can be used to predict future movement. permit me to say that ,it's best advice youfind a workingstrategy/daily signals which has been so profitable and accurate. in less than 5 weeks trading with Dr Roland's daily signals i was able to grow a total of 6.9 BTC with my initial investment of1.5 BTC, this you would say is a very good profit. Dr Roland is a true resources in space today and can be reach via his official whts app page ( [phone] 📞) : for inquiries into profitable trading systems

[@biokode]

I'm going to do this too, for the same reasons!

[@learnbusinessenglishconver5882]

I wish Charles H was there to get another perspective.

[@zacs8654]

Great episode gentleman, Vitalik really is the greatest mind in decentralised blockchains

[@lostboys_uk]

Vitalik is outrageously smart

[@anahitaazizi3445]

Hi Tim! Really appreciate all the valuable knowledge/people you have introduced to my life. I think you are making the world a better place and for that I am grateful. I have one suggestion for you although I'm aware the odds of you reading or implementing it are slim. Could you please drop the sponsor's message in the middle of interviews. It really interrupts the flow and gives a weird vibe that I don't think is you. I understand if you have to do it in the beginning and end. Thanks again!

[@gregcharles92]

The synergy of this group is unparalleled. Tim and Naval are very much the same type of people on very similar wave lengths. Seems natural for an underlying friendship to develop between the two beyond business.

[@JohnSavona]

best interview in a while. do it again please. Would be great do do one with naval and roger ver and vaval and erik voorhees

[@charlespatterson8412]

'The Present' NEVER goes away... You NEVER DIE Everything you have ever done is still happening and will ALWAYS BE happening at that Place ''somewhen Else..."

[@andreww5574]

This is super dense. I'm going to have to listen this a few times... with a notebook and a search engine

[@PatNeedhamUSA]

Ask Jeeves is pretty good, I'd suggest that one as the search engine to use instead of Alta Vista or Lycos

[@zacke6]

@@PatNeedhamUSA wait what year is this xD i get ur point tho but do they really hold up compared to the ole googe? i thought we needed like an anti-google consortium for that

[@OldNewsFaster]

Great show, I life life extension too.

[@TatiMarieex]

just absolutely wonderful discussion

[@HangTheBankers1]

Great interview. Vitalik is one smart dude.

[@emilyfranklin8190]

Stock can drop from top to bottom and still be a 60 bagger. All this in 10y. investing is a very long journey where our temperament gets tested. have to have the capacity to suffer for long periods. have lived through the examples above, naming the stock today is pointless.

[@elenagomez9890]

proper research, good analysis is what you need to make profit in this constant market.

[@Jme---]

I have tried investing but got discouraged by the constant fluctuations in price.

[@Mcdd7-_-]

@@Jme--- That wouldn't bother you or be a problem if you let a coach guide you but bear it in mind that price fluctuations is part of the market but using coach makes the difference.

[@christinadixon6974]

@@Mcdd7-_- I find myself in similar situation but mine is that i really don't know when to take profit or hold , but have you worked with a coach? what is the experience like and how can i get a good one?

[@Mcdd7-_-]

@@christinadixon6974 "Freda Lynn Johnson" is the coach I'm quite familiar, I cant disclose much but I have been working with her since July 2020 and she has helped grow my portfolio by 400%. To connect with her you have to search her name on the web that way you can connect with her on her webpage.

[@matthewjamesmiller]

great convo.

[@kenbmw]

Good work Tim!

[@feralkid1102]

maaaan wish this had video but i'll take it

[@ctsd623]

Why does Tim Ferris hate timestamps?

[@antediluvianclockwork9769]

maybe he wants you to listen to the entire thing

[@Trendsetic]

Great interview. I came home and it was playing on my KZbin feed. I stayed for the whole thing. #VitalikButerin is hella smart. I could barely understand what he was saying. At 27. Damn. He might be an alien hybrid. Interestingly enough he and I have some similar ideas. Of course...he's way ahead of me. But the best part...he's not a raging sociopath like the big boy billionaires. He's looking to lift everyone up. He seems kind, which makes him an outllier.

[@truthaboveall7988]

Best show Tim, u r making history hosting these visionaries. I’d love to hear Ryan Cohen on ur show as his 1st interview since taking over GameStop- he is building out a blockchain NFT web 3 currently & is also likely going to remove the company from the stock mrkt as the 1st to go full defi one day. It would b amazing. Just a thought.

[@somani22]

Started watching right away. Tim. Naval. Vitalik 🔥

[@xanthirudha]

How is it possible to have two brilliant minds in one podcast. Vitalik if you see this thank you very much

[@seanliebel6306]

@@ts8206 Crash? Not going to happen. That hasn’t happened yet since 2009. You’re the fool thinking that this is just some cute craze that’ll shortly pass instead of a Revolution of the internet. ADA is part of it all but why hope that they just crash. That’s like hoping gold crashes.

[@StevieTheWanderer]

Absolute gold!

[@SillyNaughty]

37:37 I don't think Caching is a network layer. I believe caching usually takes place in the application layer

[@b.jackson9546]

Tim Ferriss go hard

[@revdevstudios]

stoked

[@FreedomRenegades]

ETHSTATUS IS THE GOD DAMN FUTURE I AM SO HAPPY TO HEAR V MENTION IT SO MUCH LATELY

[@Buxtonphil]

I spent most of my buzz on the intro stickers

[@jeffdorris5321]

Nice work ✨🎇🎆

[@cryptochartist1482]

Vitalik Buterin, thank you for giving HIVE as an example for successful governance! HIVE is one of the best blockchains out there!

[@cryptochartist1482]

@LAUCH3D , I am very active on HIVE. It has become a wonderful ecosystem. HIVE is going to be something massive.

[@MrBrainFeed]

Fun fact: Vitalik learned about Bitcoin from his father, at the age of 17. He then wrote the white paper for ethereum at the tender age of 19.

[@findfreddy]

Holy crap man - soooooo many frickn commercials geeze it’s like watching the shopping channel Vitalik👍👍

[@gunpodl5578]

so.. much.. knowledge

[@byz6427]

This is GOLD

[@DeepakKumar-uz4xy]

Video should also available there.

[@3EBstudio]

I heard loopring... Nice way ahead of the curve

[@marlon82mc]

I wish this video had segments divided by question.

[@alext3892]

So the layer 2 payment layer is like opening and closing a bar tab? That's the best analogy I could think of.

[@miscellaneous9932]

You should do one with Naval and Charles Hoskinson! You're welcome!

[@drew9496]

so he can hype up Cardano more before it’s actually used? maybe when ADA is actually widely used he can get on the podcast- until then it’s just his usual ongoing ADA infomercial

[@miscellaneous9932]

​@@drew9496 Yeah good point. I guess we have to wait it out.

[@learnbusinessenglishconver5882]

It's not easy or fast to build a platform that solves the problems of gen 1 and 2. Ada if successful will do that. Fixing a working system like eth is harder and slower. But both have potential and will both be important in the future

[@owlan99]

DO CARDANO (ADA) next and interview Charles Hoskinson!!

[@TheJpwzrd]

Ya I think Cardano will be the lord of Crypto

[@robertjameshanrahan]

Tim, that is a very interesting talk about ETH. Although be careful about this "living forever" thing :)

[@shredder_tube]

Wow!!!!

[@jacbisgood2221]

Wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more.... Don't buy Ether based on this chat 😉. Very clever human being to interview. Listen to Vitalik, he really is the best of us.

[@manishsingh900]

Thank you vitalik for coming to earth and giving us the insights. Guess SpaceX is not the go to choice for your transportation

[@regular_goof]

Please Interview Eric Harris Braun and Arthur Brock.

[@crizza2000]

Excellent interview amongst some very enlightened minds.

[@DrAaronBrueckner]

Please give the brilliant billionaire a proper mic next time 😅 thanks for this podcast. Learned a lot! 🥰

[@TheJpwzrd]

"next phase of the internet after mobile..." WOW ya I see now

[@johnyoung6680]

so spot on!

[@JermNFT]

9:13 is where the episode starts ✔

[@benneb663]

so how does a chain work if it's a block?

[@ashtray182]

Pod starts at 9:00

[@dbo1111]

Thank you for this. I own eth and will not let go!!

[@dezthedon4263]

Thank you for the Financial Advise, i will let you know how my investment goes 👍🏼

[@surenseneviratne2976]

Love

[@rodneyericjohnson]

You hear about NOVOS the life extension company backed by George Church?

[@andrews476]

The amount of views for this video is fucked up, definitely underrated.

[@rockon8174]

Don't want this mainstream. 😗. You get the inside scoop, you make the $$$. 😗

[@SasquatchMushrooms]

I’ve been sharting wayyyyy before it was popular!

[@raydias5921]

Can't believe this is happening!!!

[@TheMarmite09]

Naval always wants to appear like he is the smartest guy in the room. He just says a lot of things without saying anything. Can you just let Vitalik speak, he actually makes sense when he speaks.

[@helloseoul]

Oh hell yes

[@antediluvianclockwork9769]

This should have more views/listens.

[@rockon8174]

No.

[@antediluvianclockwork9769]

@@rockon8174 why not?

[@KevinOroszSpeaks]

🔥🔥🔥