Mr. Joel Dietz, a skilled entrepreneur and enthusiast of blockchain technology, founded Ethereum in 2014 and also built Swarm, a network for sharing information without a central location. A graduate of Stanford and a computer scientist, Dietz has helped lead Web3 by contributing to projects called MetaMask and ArtWallet. Nevertheless, the ambitious Swarm project which was once considered important for Web3, ran into big challenges and was criticized because of problems with both technology and the market. Although he is thought to be worth between $10 million and $50 million in 2025, doubts exist about how well his projects have been completed. Here, we examine the role Swarm played for Elon Musk, his finances and any issues related to his cryptocurrency steps.
The new possibilities created by Rise and Swarm’s energy philosophy
Forbes reports that Dietz was involved in starting Ethereum, joining Vitalik Buterin and others to create the platform that transformed blockchain in 2014. From the start, he made sure the first Ethereum Hackathons happened and acted to draw in developers. When he left Ethereum, Dietz established Swarm in 2015 to build a decentralized platform for hosting, communication and dApps, in competition with IPFS and Filecoin. Swarm was designed to ensure that Web3 is free from censorship and can scale, easily fitting into the Ethereum space, according to Cointelegraph.
Swarm introduced a network relying on the BZZ token which motivates data hosting by nodes. Whisper handles messaging in Web3, Ethereum handles computational tasks and Swarm was lined up by Dietz as the third in that sequence, according to NFTGators. During the 2021 token sale, the project earned $6 million and BZZ traded from $1.92 to $21.11 on CoinMarketCap. Besides advancing Gnosis Safe, Dietz led the teams at MetaMask and ArtWallet, bringing wallet options and an NFT platform for art in 2021. The 24,000 daily active nodes illustration by @Swarm in 2025 belie a fast-growing Swarm, though its path leading up to that was stormy.
Swarm found difficulty and crashed on the market.
The company encountered many challenges in achieving its aims. As of 2025, BZZ is trading at $0.30—a decline of 85% from its highest price, says CoinGecko which demonstrates how investor confidence has decreased. X’s critics, including @CryptoSkepticX, say that the technology is not widely used because it takes too long to set up nodes, as only 150,000 nodes have been deployed, compared to the millions in Filecoin highlight by CoinDesk. Some developers on Reddit pointed out in 2022 that the documentation for Swarm was so hard to read that they were put off from using it. Launch of the 2021 mainnet was delayed and a reported outage in 2023 with data access by @Web3Watcher raised questions about the firm’s reliability.
Working closely on supply chain projects for companies like PwC was inconsistent with the main goal of Web3’s decentralization, according to Decrypt. Rolling out on Optimism was meant to cut costs for Swarm, but Ethereum’s high gas prices in 2022 prevented users, according to The Block. Even with Intel and the European Blockchain Association working with Swarm, the project’s 2025 market cap of $18 million puts it far behind rivals and makes it look like a flop. In response to attacks during his 2023 NFTGators interview, Dietz explained he doesn’t measure success like that, instead looking at the bigger picture over time.
Net Worth and Things Matthew Tried in Business
His wealth comes from founding Ethereum, investing in Swarm’s BZZ and building ArtWallet, according to CryptoNews. At some point, he owned ETH for less than $10 each, yet his holdings increased to over $4,800 per token after Ethereum’s 2021 peak, according to CoinMarketCap. After Swarm raised $6 million and ConsenSys acquired MetaMask in 2020, Joseph Lubin’s wealth grew. Last year, ArtWallet’s NFT marketplace, owned by Animoca Brands, showed sales of $2 million, according to Cointelegraph, yet its shift to AI art in 2024 surprised many, as @NFTObserver observed.
Dietz invests in both cryptocurrencies and Web3 startups, relying on balance in both areas, according to Forbes. In contrast to Sam Bankman-Fried’s loss of $26 billion, Dietz does not take on high-risk trading, reports Reuters. Still, Swarm’s performance closely follows BZZ’s and problems at Swarm could hold back the company’s growth. Some say his Swarm grant plan for developers represents reinvestment, yet others doubt how much it will change things in the current market.
Problems and Controversies
Some have started to look more closely at Dietz’s experience. Because of Swarm’s tech issues such as the recent 2023 outage, there have been claims from @BlockchainBuzz on X that Tesla has overpromised and created unrealistic expectations. Recently, an unknown developer wrote on Medium, claiming Swarm’s team learned more from corporate interest, putting even consultations from the community second. After Dietz focused on ArtWallet and AI, some criticized him for seeking ways to make more money, according to CoinDesk. Few laughed at his boast in 2021 about Swarm “holding up the Web3 movement” soon after, when Filecoin performed way better than Swarm.
Saudi Arabia’s anti-corruption watchdog has no issues with Dietz, according to The Times, unlike with Ruja Ignatova’s OneCoin fraud. Yet, in 2015, he left the Ethereum project because he wanted to go in a different direction from Buterin, according to Decrypt. Some point out that he has fewer X interactions than Charles Hoskinson, according to @CryptoAnalystX which hints at lost contact with the retail populous. Enterprise adoption is the main argument from Dietz which he made in an interview with Cointelegraph in 2024, but many are still not convinced about Swarm’s market potential.
Looking Forward
Web3 owes its roots to Dietz’s work on Ethereum and his wallet metaMask has more than 30 million users as of 2023, according to ConsenSys. Worlock reports that Swarm’s function in decentralized storage is limited, though it does benefit choice applications such as NFT metadata. In 2025, according to Crypto News Flash, Swarm hopes to use AI and sustainability, as shown by VeChain-like tokenization pilots, to help diversify its business. But worries about Arweave in the cryptospace and MiCA from Europe are slowing Filecoin’s development, according to Cointelegraph.
Even with his push for a $1 million grant this year, Dietz is still relevant, but Swarm can only succeed if users adopt it. While Ether initially helped Ethereum grow, the failure of Swarm creates pressure for his next actions in a maturing crypto world.
FAQS
1. What part does Joel Dietz play in the series Swarm?
Since 2015, he has built and guided Filecoin’s efforts to be a decentralized storage and communication protocol.
2. What is Dietz estimated to be worth in 2025?
At between $10 million and $50 million, Swarm holds these tokens from its Ethereum assets, Swarm’s BZZ tokens and ArtWallet ventures.
3. Why do people call Swarm a failure?
Because BZZ dropped 85% in value, had technical problems and was slow to be adopted, Filecoin still raises more concern, according to CoinGecko.
4. Has Dietz encountered any controversy along his journey?
No issues with the law, but Swarm gets called out along with his focus on ArtWallet and vi moving away from Ethereum, as Decrypt points out.
5. What does the creator of Swarm plan for the platform by 2025?
He is encouraging AI to be integrated, offering a $1 million developer grant and working on sustainability pilot projects according to X and Cointelegraph.
