Vitalik Buterin Awarded Thiel Fellowship

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Peter Thiel, a notable entrepreneur and venture capitalist, has today announced the 2014 class of new Thiel Fellows, the fourth group of young entrepreneurs that have been awarded Thiel Fellowships.

And one of those awarded is very much known in the bitcoin community, Vitalik Buterin of Toronto, Canada.

Buterin is now working full-time on developing Ethereum, a platform and coding language for use in peer-to-peer concepts.

The Thiel fellows will be receiving support that will help bring their  “innovative scientific and technical projects to life, learn entrepreneurship from the ground up, and begin to build the companies of tomorrow.”

“As student debt soars and the wages of college graduates sag, the need for more thoughtful and personalized approaches to finding success is greater than ever,” said Mr. Thiel on the matter. “We hope the 2014 Thiel Fellows inspire people of all ages as they demonstrate that intellectual curiosity, grit, and determination are more important than credentials for improving civilization.”

The Thiel Foundation will supply $100,000 over a two-year period to each of the fellows in addition to a mentorship from the Foundation’s network of entrepreneurs, scientists, investors, and other leaders.

Buterin, along with 19 others, were selected from a relatively large pool of applicants that spanned 44 countries.

“Selecting twenty Thiel Fellows from the pool of finalists was particularly difficult this year,” said Mike Gibson, VP of Grants at the Thiel Foundation. “The crew really captured the incredible talent and sheer determination that all of the candidates brought to the weekend activities, including team building challenges, their individual lightning round pitches, and café-style mentor interviews. Even more importantly, though, the finalists were able to come together as a community of new friends and colleagues, which we hope will continue for the rest of their lives.”

Congratulations to Vitalik! We all hope to see you do amazing things.