Ethereum co-founder Anthony Di Yorio decided to exit the cryptocurrency world for good, in part due to personal safety concerns.
According to Arab Net, the 48-year-old has had a security team since 2017, with a bodyguard who travels with him wherever he goes. In the coming weeks, he plans to sell Decentral, refocusing on philanthropy and other non-crypto-related projects. The Canadian entrepreneur expects to sever ties in time with other startups he is involved in, and does not plan to fund more blockchain projects.
I'm not comfortable with the risk and I'm not excited about it, said Di Yorio, who declined to reveal his crypto holdings or net worth. "I don't feel safe in this place," he added.
De Yorio co-founded Ethereum, in 2013, which has become home to many of the hottest crypto projects, particularly in decentralized finance - which allows individuals to borrow and lend And trading with each other without intermediaries like banks. As a result of these and other uses, the value of Ethereum has risen to about $225 billion.
His most prominent asset, which Bloomberg spotted, was the apartment he bought in 2018, which is the largest and most expensive in Canada, with part of the price paid in cryptocurrency.
The three-story, C$28 million ($22 million) condo in the St. Regis Residence Toronto, the former Trump International Hotel and Tower in the business district downtown.
In recent years, Di Yorio has jumped into venture capital investing and advising startups. He also served as Chief Digital Officer for the Toronto Stock Exchange for a while. In February 2018, Forbes estimated his net worth at $1 billion. This did not take into account that the price of Ethereum has doubled since then.
Decentral, a Toronto-based innovation hub and software development company focused on decentralized technologies, is also the maker of Jaxx, a digital asset portfolio that has attracted nearly 1 million clients this year .
Di Yorio said he has spoken with two potential investors and believes the startup will be valued in the hundreds of millions. He expects to sell the company for real cash, or exchange shares for equity in another company, not cryptocurrency.
