Bullet Points:
• Ric Burton was compensated 10k ETH from Vitalik Buterin in 2016 for a month of work he did in 2014.
• Burton was introduced to Ethereum after hearing Buterin mention it in podcasts and decided to attend a talk given by Gavin Wood.
• After meeting Wood and Buterin, Burton was invited into the core Ethereum community and was “hooked”.

Ric Burton, a web3 designer, recently shared on Twitter the story of how he received 10,000 Ether (ETH) from Vitalik Buterin in 2016 as compensation for a month of work he did in 2014. Burton’s story began in 2014 when he heard Buterin mention “building a blockchain that he could run programs on” in various Bitcoin-related podcasts. This intrigued Burton, and after hearing about Ethereum two more times, he decided to attend a talk given by Gavin Wood. During the talk, Wood spoke about the importance of decentralization and the issues caused by Facebook controlling WhatsApp, Instagram, and the social web. After the talk, Wood invited Burton into the core Ethereum community and Burton decided to fly to the Bay Area to meet Buterin himself.

The two met up and discussed the Ethereum project, and Buterin offered to pay Burton for his help. Although Burton didn’t receive that payment in 2014, two years later, Buterin sent him an Ethereum transaction of 10,000 ETH as a thank you for his work. Burton was elated to receive the payment and shared his story on Twitter. This story serves as an example of the immense progress blockchain technology has made since its inception and how it is continuing to revolutionize the way businesses and individuals interact with one another.