Vivaldi CEO: Cryptocurrencies Should Have Been Banned for Political Influence
In brief
- Vivaldi CEO Jon von Tetzchner claims cryptocurrencies should have been banned for exerting excessive political influence.
- Von Tetzchner opposes crypto as a pyramid scheme and opposes browser-integrated wallets.
- He criticized user profiling algorithms and AI integration for lacking adequate regulation.
The Case Against Crypto
Von Tetzchner's critique goes beyond current market conditions. He contends that "there are consequences from lack of regulation," extending his argument to user profiling and content algorithms. "We should have banned user profiling for ads and content algorithms. We did not, and we live with the consequences to our societies and democracy," he wrote.
This isn't a recent shift. Back in January 2022, von Tetzchner published an extensive article explaining why Vivaldi would not add crypto-related features. He described cryptocurrencies as a pyramid scheme, citing extreme volatility and Bitcoin's energy consumption as core problems. Von Tetzchner argued that such volatility prevented cryptocurrencies from functioning effectively as currency.
The Vivaldi founder has been particularly clear about wallet integration. Vivaldi ruled out adding a native cryptocurrency wallet to its browser, with von Tetzchner arguing it would encourage users to participate in something that was "at best a gamble and at worst a scam."
A Contrarian Stance in an Industry Divided
The position stands out sharply against Opera, the browser company von Tetzchner co-founded decades ago. Opera moved aggressively into Web3 and crypto functionality, taking a very different path than Vivaldi's current leadership has chosen.
Von Tetzchner's skepticism extends beyond crypto. In August 2025, he said Vivaldi would resist the industry-wide rush to turn browsers into AI assistants and would not integrate an LLM chatbot or automatic summarization system. By year-end 2025, company polling showed overwhelming resistance to browser-integrated AI among Vivaldi's user base.
Vivaldi currently reports more than 4.2 million active users and more than 2.5 million community members. The browser's stance reflects the preferences of its constituency, which appears aligned with von Tetzchner's skepticism toward unregulated technologies that reshape user behavior and democratic discourse.
