Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong recently praised Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin on social media, celebrating the 12th anniversary of Ethereum's white paper. Armstrong commended Ethereum's contributions to the crypto industry, particularly its Turing-complete language and developer tools. This acknowledgment, however, drew criticism from Bitcoin maximalists, who derided Ethereum as a 'centralized fake currency.' Armstrong and Buterin's relationship dates back to 2013 when they met at a Bitcoin conference in San Jose. At the time, Coinbase considered hiring Buterin, but visa issues led him back to Canada, where he published the Ethereum white paper. Ethereum, launched in 2015, has since grown to become the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap and was listed on Coinbase in 2016, a decision that also faced opposition from Bitcoin supporters.