Who is Gavin Wood?

For those who have been around the technology industry and especially the cryptocurrency world, you may have heard of Gavin Wood. From his beginnings in the United Kingdom to his work in some of the most prominent crypto companies in the world, you may be wondering who Gavin Wood is.

Gavin Wood is said to be a British technology entrepreneur who began his career as a software developer. Over the years, however, his interests seem to have moved toward cryptocurrency and the world of blockchain technology.

Learning more about where Dr. Gavin Wood got his start may help you to understand how he got to where he is today. Keep reading to learn more about what Gavin Wood is known for and the various companies he has helped along the way.

What is Gavin Wood Known For?

A British programmer, Dr. Gavin Wood, has been most known for his various business ventures over the years. Although he was a co-founder of Ethereum, he has also been known for his other companies such as Polkadot, Kusama, and Parity Technologies.

Wood, who has been involved in the technology industry since he was a kid, has developed and created many advances throughout his career. Even though he is most known for his work in the cryptocurrency industry, he has also been influential in software development and as a consultant.

He may have been a co-founder of Ethereum, however, he only stayed with the company for a short time. He is most known for his founding of and creation of the Polkadot blockchain, which is said to be one of the most successful of all others.

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Early Life of Gavin Wood

Dr. Gavin Wood was born in April of 1980 in Lancaster, United Kingdom to parents who encouraged his early interests. As a child at the Lancaster Royal Grammar School, he became fascinated with both economics and game theory.

This interest led him to design a board game based on strategy when he was still a child and enrolled in grammar school. He went on to develop an interest in technology and, more specifically, computer programming.

It has been reported that Wood even learned to code when he was in high school and created his first computer game that was based on strategy. This led him to become more and more interested in technology.

Education and Career

After Dr. Gavin Wood graduated from the Lancaster Royal Grammar School, he chose to enroll in the University of York. It was there that he chose to pursue a Master in Engineering degree in computers followed by a Ph.D. in the same area.

After graduating with multiple degrees, Wood worked for several companies as a software developer. It was also during this time that he also chose to work as a consultant for various companies in the same field.

It has been reported that some of the companies that he worked for included Microsoft, InTechnology PLC, Frontier Developments, and more. With those companies, he worked as both a software developer and consultant to help them move their companies forward in the technology industry.

Ethereum

After years of working as a software developer and consultant, Wood turned his attention to the cryptocurrency and blockchain world in 2013. During this time, he met Vitalik Buterin, and they, along with other parties, founded Ethereum.

As the Chief Technology Officer for Ethereum, he was a crucial part of designing the software client known as Geth. During this time, he was also responsible for helping with the creation of the Ethereum protocols, some of that still exists today.

Before leaving Ethereum, he also helped to design their programming language, referred to as Solidity. He also is responsible for helping to author the Ethereum Yellow Paper to relay the various technical specifications of the company.

Related: Which is Better: Bitcoin or Ethereum?

Parity Technologies

During his tenure at Ethereum, Dr. Gavin Wood and an associate, Dr. Jutta Steiner, joined together to launch Parity Technologies. Their vision was to create infrastructure for blockchain technology for Web3 technologies.

The company was originally called EthCore and was focused on building a better blockchain than the Ethereum models. Since the founders of Parity knew the systems at Ethereum, they also knew the flaws, which made them more than capable of finding a better solution.

With his vast knowledge of technology and cryptocurrency, Wood was able to help create some of the fastest blockchain technologies. This provided Parity Technologies with blockchain infrastructures that were better than others in the industry.

Polkadot Blockchain

Under the umbrella of Parity Technologies, Wood and his other colleagues were able to come up with a blockchain technology that was different from others. Polkadot Blockchain was developed as a multichain network that made the processing of blockchain much faster.

Since the main focus was to make this blockchain technology different from Ethereum, which used a “Proof of Work” mechanism, they created Polkadot. This blockchain infrastructure was built on a “Proof of Stake” mechanism, which has more viability overall.

Dr. Gavin Wood is said to have taken about four months to develop the technology to build the Polkadot protocol. This protocol has enabled various developers to create blockchain in a different way to communicate with other technologies.

Related: What is the Polkadot (DOT) Blockchain Platform?

Web3 Foundation

At the same time Dr. Wood was creating and building Parity Technologies and the Polkadot protocol, he was also working with Web3 Foundation. This is said to be a non-profit organization whose sole purpose is to focus on the decentralization of the internet and move towards blockchain technology.

It was out of the Web3 Foundation’s focus that Dr. Wood and his colleagues were able to create and launch the Polkadot protocol. With the various work on the project, this technology has moved to the forefront of the cryptocurrency industry.

The bottom line when it comes to Dr. Gavin Wood is that while he was focused more on software development when he first started, he quickly made the move to all things cryptocurrency and blockchain. This has allowed him to build the kind of career that has made him one of the most influential people in the industry to date.