Why Ethereum Co-Founder Vitalik Buterin Visited War-torn Ukraine This Week

Ethereum ETH/USD co-founder Vitalik Buterin has in the past openly shown his support for Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion. The crypto entrepreneur recently attended the three-day "Kyiv Tech Summit" that concluded on Friday, according to CoinDesk.

After tracking the Russia-Ukraine war since it began, Buterin wanted to come and see for himself, he reportedly said while taking part as the marquee speaker on the closing panel of the summit.

He also said he wanted to let Ukraine know that the people in the Ethereum blockchain, and the crypto world as a whole, really care about the citizens in the country, CoinDesk said.

See also: Vitalik Buterin Says It's Time To Change How Ethereum Name Service Domains Are Priced: Here's Why

The report noted that Buterin's visit assumes importance as it occurred shortly ahead of the Ethereum Merge, which would completely revamp the blockchain and shift the network to proof-of-stake.

The tech summit held in Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine, is a WEB3 hackathon focused on using the power of technology to solve real, on-the-ground issues in Ukraine. The official Twitter handle of the organizers said over 500 hackers participated in the event and submitted around 50 projects for helping Ukraine.

Ukraine's Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov as well his deputy Alex Bornyakov also took part in the event.

Photo: Courtesy of TechCrunch on flickr