Title: Brief Life History of Daniel Larimer: Career and 3 Blockchain Projects
Who Is Daniel Larimer?
Daniel Larimer, known online as Dan Larimer or by his handle Bytemaster, is an American software programmer and blockchain entrepreneur. He created BitShares, co-founded Steem, and built the EOS blockchain as CTO of Block.one, making him one of the few people credited with founding 3 major blockchain platforms.
Larimer also invented the Delegated Proof of Stake consensus algorithm and the Graphene blockchain framework, both of which are still used across multiple blockchain projects today.
What Is Daniel Larimer’s Background and Education?
Daniel Larimer is a Colorado native who spent part of his childhood in Florida and Virginia. He learned to program as a child from his father, Stan Larimer, a veteran of the aerospace industry, and the two built simple games together, including a Star Trek shooting game in elementary school. In high school, Larimer went on to build his own Jeopardy-style quiz game and a Tetris clone.
Larimer earned a Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Science from Virginia Tech in 2003. Early in his career, he worked on unmanned systems and virtual reality projects before shifting his focus to decentralized technology.
How Did Daniel Larimer Start in Blockchain Technology?
Daniel Larimer became active in the early Bitcoin community around 2009 and 2010, including a notable exchange with Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, on a Bitcoin forum in June 2010.
In 2013, he founded BitShares, one of the earliest decentralized exchanges, alongside Charles Hoskinson, who later co-founded Ethereum and Cardano. To build BitShares, Larimer developed the Delegated Proof of Stake algorithm and Graphene, an open-source C++ blockchain framework that later powered several other projects. He also originated the concept of a “decentralized autonomous company,” an early template for what the industry now calls a DAO. Alongside his father, he co-founded Cryptonomex, a blockchain consulting firm.
What Did Daniel Larimer Build After BitShares?
Daniel Larimer left BitShares in 2016 to co-found the Steem blockchain and its social media platform, Steemit, alongside Ned Scott. Steemit rewarded users with cryptocurrency for posting and curating content, and Larimer served as its Chief Technology Officer until March 2017.
Later that year, Larimer co-founded Block.one with Brendan Blumer and became its CTO. The company built EOSIO, the software behind the EOS blockchain, positioned as a faster, more scalable alternative to Ethereum. Block.one’s yearlong initial coin offering raised more than $4 billion, a record at the time for any ICO. In 2019, the US Securities and Exchange Commission fined Block.one $24 million for conducting an unregistered securities offering during that ICO. That same year, Block.one launched Voice, a blockchain-based social media platform led by Larimer, aimed at giving users more control over their content and data than mainstream platforms allowed. By February 2018, Forbes estimated Larimer’s net worth at between $600 million and $700 million, based largely on his crypto holdings.
In 2020, years after Larimer had left Steemit, the Steem blockchain he originally built was acquired by Justin Sun’s TRON Foundation. The move drew strong objections from the Steem community over concerns about centralized control, and a group of developers responded by creating a separate blockchain called Hive. Larimer is listed as a founder across both Steem and Hive in his own public profiles today.
Why Did Daniel Larimer Leave Block.one and EOS?
Daniel Larimer resigned as CTO of Block.one on December 31, 2020, ending a tenure that began when he co-founded the company in 2017.
In his resignation post, Larimer said he intended to keep working on free-market, voluntary solutions for personal liberty, and that he was leaning toward building censorship-resistant technologies next. He did not name a specific reason for leaving, though his public posts around that time showed a growing focus on free speech and decentralized alternatives to mainstream social media. EOS’s token price fell sharply in the days following the announcement.
What Has Daniel Larimer Done Since Leaving Block.one?
Since 2021, Daniel Larimer has worked on Fractally, a project exploring decentralized governance and consensus tools that draws on ideas he developed at BitShares, Steem, and EOS. Fractally is built around small-group consensus meetings meant to let communities reach agreement and distribute rewards without a central authority. He also authored a book, “More Equal Animals: The Subtle Art of True Democracy,” which lays out his broader views on governance and decentralization.
More recently, Larimer’s public writing has shifted toward Christian faith and biblical topics, including a personal project centered on a biblical lunar calendar. He still posts occasionally about blockchain performance and technical topics, but his online presence today blends his original crypto legacy with these newer interests. He remains listed as a founder across BitShares, Steem, Hive, EOSIO, and Fractally in his own public profiles.
Daniel Larimer FAQs
What Blockchain Platforms Did Daniel Larimer Create?
Daniel Larimer created or co-founded BitShares, Steem, and EOS. He is also credited with inventing the Delegated Proof of Stake algorithm and the Graphene blockchain framework used across those projects.
What Is Daniel Larimer’s Net Worth?
Forbes estimated Daniel Larimer’s net worth at $600 million to $700 million in February 2018, based on his crypto holdings at the time. No confirmed, more recent figure has been published, and crypto-linked wealth of that kind can move sharply with market prices.
What Does Daniel Larimer Go By Online?
Daniel Larimer is widely known online by the handle Bytemaster, which he has used across GitHub, X, and his personal blog since early in his blockchain career.