No, it's common knowledge most publications on crypto in general are scams, and Vitalik has always been critical about money grabbing schemes. Vitalik's project Ethereum has been hurt a lot by "shit coins" (alternative cryptocurrencies that have money grabbing as their sole objective) as if there had been a magical way for regular users to become aware of which crypto technologies add something material to the space and which not, the space as a whole would be a lot healthier.
The other part of that sentence about crypto is a funny self jab though, apparently he's conscious about the research rabbit holes and mathematical abstractions the Ethereum team went through to get for example staking to work.
Had Ethereum not been near the top of every crypto exchange, and Vitalik not been somewhat of a known person, how difficult would it have been for the average crypto-interested person to tell Ethereum's "insane nerd traps and sky high abstraction ladders" from the scams?
The other part of that sentence about crypto is a funny self jab though, apparently he's conscious about the research rabbit holes and mathematical abstractions the Ethereum team went through to get for example staking to work.
Had Ethereum not been near the top of every crypto exchange, and Vitalik not been somewhat of a known person, how difficult would it have been for the average crypto-interested person to tell Ethereum's "insane nerd traps and sky high abstraction ladders" from the scams?