Ethereum’s Buterin Sounds Alarm Over Aging

In a recent social media post, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has opined that in the future, when anti-aging therapies or significant lifespan/healthspan extensions exist, people will look back at our current era and be shocked that we tolerated age-related deaths as “normal.”

The prominent Canadian developer believes that aging is a preventable problem.

The billionaire often combines tech optimism, long-term thinking, and effective altruism as part of his philosophy.

In early 2018, he donated roughly $2.4 million in Ether to the SENS Research Foundation, a nonprofit focused on the biomedical research of rejuvenation therapies.

Buterin has previously described aging as “one of the greatest problems facing humanity.”

Back in 2020, the cryptocurrency luminary predicted that there would be a shift toward biotech. The “final boss”: massively extending healthy life-span and ending aging entirely.

“So like basically, you know, just imagine the concept of your grandmother dying, just kind of slowly and imperceptibly disappearing from the public consciousness over the course of around 40 years…” Buterin said during a podcast appearance back in 2021.

Fighting aging

Buterin is, of course, far from being the only prominent executive who is advocating against aging. There are several other tech executives and prominent figures known for their strong interest in anti‑aging or longevity research.

For instance, Bryan Johnson, founder of companies like Kernel and Braintree, famously runs a highly publicised anti‑aging program called “Project Blueprint.” It involves an intense diet, supplements, and biomarkers.

Billionaire Peter Thiel, who is also known as a prominent crypto investor, has invested heavily in companies addressing aging and life extension. He has donated millions to longevity research via foundations like the Methuselah Foundation.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has also been actively investing in longevity research.