Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin joined the Kyiv Tech Summit to provide his support to war-wretched Ukraine. Kyiv Tech Summit was an event dedicated to bringing together the best developers, designers, innovators and technology providers to solve tangible on-the-ground issues to help Ukraine people in their fight for freedom.
The event was heavily guarded for security reasons as Buterin’s appearance at the summit was kept confidential.
Reportedly, Buterin made a surprise appearance after keeping his planned visit a secret for security concerns. The summit’s organizers tweeted that it was Buterin’s first visit to Ukraine. However, it was not the first time that Buterin showed open support for the country amid its ongoing conflict with Russia.
His unannounced trip to Kyiv Tech Summit comes at a time when Ethereum’s Merge is around the corner. What makes his visit notable is the timing as the much-awaited Merge update is just days away.
Buterin confessed in the conference that he has been following Ukraine closely since the war started. He went on to say, “I wanted to come and see for myself” and “also let Ukraine know that lots of people in the blockchain, Ethereum, crypto world really care about you guys and lots of people support you.”
Vitalik Buterin’s undying support for Ukraine has been seen from time to time. He donated $5 million in ETH to Ukraine in April to provide humanitarian assistance.
The latest war-time conference brought together 30 tech experts. Among them were well-reputed Buterin and two government officials Mykhailo Fedorov, the country’s vice prime minister and Digital Transformation Minister for IT Development, and Alex Bornyakov.
Other speakers at the summit included Illia Polosukhin, co-founder of NEAR protocol, Kiril Khamiakov, general manager of Binance Ukraine and Pavlo Kartashov, director of the Ukrainian startup Fund.
The three-day event was focused on 500 hackers who submitted over 50 projects as part of a crypto-related hackathon aimed at supporting Ukraine in its fight for freedom.
The prominent topic of discussion at the event was decentralized electoral voting, central banks issuing digital currencies, and the role of Web3 and blockchain in preventing disinformation.
CJ Hetherington, co-founder of the summit said that it was incredible to have Vitalik join us on the ground along with important figures from the Ministry of Digital Transformation. He also emphasized that the Kyiv Tech Summit is not just an ordinary tech event but a protest, a movement and an embodiment of the unbreakable spirit of Ukraine.
Also Read: Vitalik Buterin Admits using Tornado Cash for Ukraine Donations
