Anthony Di Iorio, one of the few Ethereum founders has confirmed that he’s leaving the crypto world. Di Iorio says that he is leaving the crypto world, in part, because of safety reasons. While he failed to give specifics, he added that he doesn’t want to be a crypto guy, but be “a guy tackling complex problems.”

In 2013, Di Iorio with others including Cardano’s Charles Hoskinson, Vitalik Buterin, and Polkadot’s Gavin Wood created Ethereum. The project has since become the go-to network for creating thousands of projects. Additionally, it has grown into a market value of about $225 billion. A few years into the creation of Ethereum, Di Iorio like most of the co-founders drifted away from the project. He in fact went on to found Decentral, a Toronto-based innovation hub focused on decentralized technologies where he was been working since. The company launched Jaxx, a popular crypto wallet whose popularity has been on the rise. In 2021, the wallet has recorded more than a million customers.

On top of working on Decentral, he has been advising numerous crypto and blockchain-focused startups. Because of his exposure to Ethereum and being an early investor in numerous projects, in 2018, Forbes estimated his net worth to be around $1 billion.

The founder now says that the industry has become unsafe. “I don’t feel necessarily safe in this space. If I was focused on larger problems, I think I’d be safer,” he went on to add. He however did not specify what threats or safety concerns he has.

Where to Next for Di Iorio?

Di Iorio has already confirmed that he is selling Decentral and is already in talks with several potential customers. He expects to sell the company for hundreds of millions. It is unclear how he will spend these funds but expects to sell the company for fiat, or equity but not crypto.

Away from the crypto world, the entrepreneur is involved with Project Arrow, which’s building a zero-emission vehicle. Started by a high school friend, he could go all-in on the project.

A small percentage of what the world needs, he concluded that he “will incorporate crypto when needed, but a lot of times, it’s not.”

His exit from the crypto world comes just days after the Dogecoin co-creator slammed the crypto world. Jackson Palmer, in a Twitter rant, likened the crypto industry to ​“the worst parts of today’s capitalist system (e.g. corruption, fraud, inequality)”