November 21st, 2025
Sebastián Rodríguez Mora
Buenos Aires, 21 Nov (EFE).- Gavin Wood, one of the founders of the cryptocurrency Ethereum, criticised the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in an interview with EFE for its attempts to regulate the digital assets market, praised Javier Milei for seeking “structural change,” but lamented that the Argentine president is involved in the $LIBRA case.
For the 45-year-old English computer scientist, blockchain technology offers the possibility of “implementing a democracy much more akin to the one that existed in Athens” and, from there, “a less defective social system.”
As founder of the Web 3.0 Foundation, Wood drives the decentralisation of information and describes crypto technologies as the possibility of a new “social contract” that would allow individuals to participate directly in the decisions currently taken by national governments and supranational institutions.
“Democracy is in reality a means to an end which is, of course, stability, prosperity and freedom,” expressed Wood, visiting Buenos Aires to participate in DevConnect, a global gathering of the crypto and blockchain industry organised by Ethereum.
Criticism of the IMF
Asked by EFE about the IMF’s decision to prevent El Salvador from paying its debt obligations in cryptocurrencies, Wood considered it “a very direct case of coercion.”
“The IMF is, to a large extent, controlled by a very small number of national governments, which are in turn sustained by the international financial apparatus,” he commented.
He pointed out that international banks “have a personal interest in countries using that apparatus and not Bitcoin.”
EFE asked Wood whether his proposed new governance model does not implicitly involve a transfer of power from publicly elected institutions towards private companies or foundations such as his own, which develop technologies that the majority of the world’s population does not understand.
“These protocols are open and well described; it is possible for a non-technical citizen to read and understand them, or to pay someone they trust, or to ask a trusted family member with greater technical knowledge to explain them,” he responded.
Enthusiasm for Milei
Wood showed optimism regarding the reform plan being driven by the ultra-liberal Javier Milei.
“He spent 18 months researching Argentine regulations before taking power. Normally this work is carried out by think tanks, and they do not usually approach it in such a direct manner. That is why I find it impressive,” he commented.
The co-founder of Ethereum observes in Argentina “a fairly significant structural problem in its economy” that requires “substantial structural change,” which in turn requires a leader with “a personality that does not care too much about people” but rather about the state and the nation.
In that regard, Wood offered as an example former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who in 1940, during the Second World War, “decided not to explicitly order the population of Coventry to take shelter, despite knowing that bombardments were imminent.”
“Unfortunately, these personalities do not always surround themselves with good company,” added Wood in reference to the $LIBRA case, in which Milei is being investigated by Argentine and American courts for alleged fraud.
On 14 February, Milei promoted the launch of the cryptocurrency $LIBRA from his social media accounts, whose value surged before suddenly collapsing, leading many investors around the world to regard it as a scam.
Milei held meetings and appears in several photographs with American Hayden Davis, creator of $LIBRA, whilst the president’s sister, Karina Milei, is also under investigation in the case.
“I suspect he would have recognised the fellow just by the way he dressed and the size of his smile,” commented Wood, who lamented that Milei had not avoided his involvement in the scandal beforehand. EFE
Source: Swissinfo