Meet the Ethereum and Polkadot co-founder who wasn’t in Time Magazine

“Does it bother you that Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin made Time’s 2021 list of the 100 most influential people?” Magazine asks.

It’d be a weird question to ask most people, but not Ethereum co-founder Dr. Gavin Wood.

“If I said, No, it has never bothered me. I think it would be a lie,” Wood tells Magazine, before taking a short pause…

“It certainly doesn’t bother me right now,” the prominent computer scientist and blockchain pioneer says with energy, despite being on the third day of a five-day fast, drinking only sparkling water and coffee.

“What I want is not recognition. I’ve got enough of that. What I want is product,” the 45-year-old declares.

While Wood may never have graced Time, he has earned plenty of recognition over the years since joining Buterin as a co-founder of Ethereum in 2014 alongside six others.

Vitalik Buterin continues to recognize Gavin Wood’s contributions

Buterin has never shied away from recognizing Wood, either. Over the years, Buterin has publicly acknowledged Wood’s contributions, even sharing an email from Wood sent in 2013, in which he expressed interest in joining Ethereum. 

Buterin, who already had mapped out the vision, replied that he was already halfway there and welcomed him on board.

“The earliest emails from @gavofyork reaching out to me in Dec 2013. Thanks a lot for Gav’s crucial contributions to Ethereum!” Buterin said in an August 2017 X post. 

Wood replied, “I could never have built #Ethereum without you :-)” 

“I thought I was the ideas guy and Gav does all the coding!”

When @gavofyork sat down with @VitalikButerin earlier today, a rapt audience was treated to two of Web3’s greatest minds on stage together.

The full video from @EthPrague @Polkadot @ethereum pic.twitter.com/JDyObh5tV1

— Parity Technologies (@paritytech) May 31, 2024

Wood spent the following three years working on Ethereum, serving as chief technology officer for the Ethereum Foundation.

During that time, he invented Solidity, the programming language that powers Ethereum smart contracts. 

He left Ethereum in 2016 for several reasons, including the “political realities of human organizations with a lot of money at stake,” but mainly because he feels more at home “building stuff rather than maintaining stuff.”

Wood launched ETHCore shortly after leaving, which is now known as the blockchain technology firm, Parity Technologies. Not long after, he went on to launch the proof-of-stake blockchain network Polkadot, and, three years later, Kusama, an experimental blockchain platform for Polkadot.

Gavin Wood invented a word you’ve probably heard of

And if you’re still not familiar with any of those projects, here’s one you’ve probably heard of…“Web3.” He coined that term for the evolution of the internet back in 2014.

He admits the thought of recognition crosses his mind occasionally, but says it’s a common tension for people with a philosopher’s mindset. 

“They think a lot, and they come up with ideas, but at the end of the day, they also sort of feel the need for recognition,” he says. 

Who better to describe #Web3 than the originator @gavofyork? 💻 pic.twitter.com/evwgpGFrAK

— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) June 21, 2022

He says it is a way of thinking that often leaves people torn between sharing visions. Wood explains this philosopher mindset makes people hold back their ideas and sometimes worry others might use them without giving credit.

He says it can also leave you stuck on the idea that someone else is using your idea, which can weigh on your mind. “Not become bitter, that’s not quite the right word, that’s too much of a strong one,” he explains.

Who is Gavin Wood?

His internal tug-of-war over recognition may trace back to the tendency of people in small towns to try and cut down tall poppies. Wood was born in Lancaster, an English town of fewer than 60,000 residents.

There, he attended a prestigious grammar school before studying at the University of York, where he earned a Master’s in Computer Systems and Software Engineering. 

Fittingly for someone who has pioneered so much in the industry, Wood also completed a PhD, with a thesis titled “Content-based visualization to aid common navigation of musical audio.”

Gavin Wood’s thoughts on industry conferences

Even at industry conferences, Wood is in two minds about recognition.

“When I…