Vitalik Buterin Drops Truth Bomb: Visa Was a DAO Before It Sold Out to Centralization

Ethereum's wunderkind just flipped the script on payment giants—turns out, even Visa had decentralized roots before cozying up to the establishment.

From rebel to relic in three corporate mergers flat.

Vitalik Buterin's latest musings expose finance's open secret: every centralized behemoth starts as a disruptive idea—until bankers get their hands on it. The Ethereum co-founder drew parallels between Visa's early days and today's DAOs, minus the ironic token governance votes.

Funny how legacy finance always coopts innovation—right after calling it 'dangerous speculation.' Now they're patenting blockchain tech while lobbying against it. Classic.

Next up: JP Morgan launches 'community-driven' stablecoin (with 35% APR for accredited investors only).

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently noted that Visa began with ideals similar to a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), aiming for shared ownership and collaborative governance. However, he explained that Visa has evolved into a company widely viewed as highly centralized and profit-driven. Buterin’s comments highlight how even organizations founded on decentralized, community-driven principles can become centralized over time—a key issue that the crypto and blockchain community continues to address through new governance models and smart contract technology.