Ethereum co-founder Anthony Di Iorio quits crypto over safety concerns

Anthony Di Iorio, one of the co-founders of Ethereum, has announced his intention to exit the crypto industry, considering his personal safety.

Ethereum co-founder Anthony Di Iorio quits crypto over safety concerns

According to the report from Bloomberg, Di Iorio wants to sell his digital asset firm Decentral and back off himself from all other crypto projects he is currently involved with, stating that he does not feel safe as a result of his identity within the industry.

“It’s got a risk profile that I am not too enthused about. I don’t feel necessarily safe in this space. If I was focused on larger problems, I think I’d be safer,” said the Ethereum co-founder.

Di Iorio was among the eight co-founders who began working on Ethereum in 2014. He served as chief digital officer of the Toronto Stock Exchange in 2016 and has worked in venture capital investing and startup advising during recent years.

The 48-year-old Canadian developer founded a blockchain company, Decentral in 2016, which operates Jaxx Liberty — a multi-platform cryptocurrency wallet that boasts a user base of more than one million.

Di Iorio is now expecting to sell Decentral for ‘hundreds of millions,’ highlighting that he will only accept either cash or equity in another company for the settlement, and will not consider any offers made in cryptocurrency.

In a bid to find more philanthropic pursuits, Iorio has joined Project Arrow, which plans to build Canada’s first zero-emission vehicle, with the entrepreneur asserting that crypto can only assist with a small number of the world’s problems:

“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.”

Since 2017, Di Iorio has traveled with a security team. In 2018, Forbes estimated his net worth to be as much as $1 billion, featuring Di Iorio in its crypto rich list for the year. During the same year, Di Iorio was further cast into the limelight after buying the largest condo in Canada for $22 million and using cryptocurrency.

Of Ethereum's eight co-founders, only Vitalik Buterin is still actively working on the blockchain platform. Charles Hoskinson and Gavin Wood have started rival blockchains, Cardano and Polkadot. Mihai Alisie and Joeseph Lubin started firms to focus on Ethereum applications and development, launching AKASHA Project and ConsenSy. Amir Chetrit and Jeffrey Wilcke, have made similar moves to Di Iorio by exiting crypto and focus on other industries.

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