Joel Dietz
Meetup organizer, EtherCasts with Joris Bontje, his own Swarm project (not ethswarm)
DEVCON0 self-introduction
As per his LinkedIn:
"Founding Member, Ethereum" as per his LinkedIn profile."
"Founded Metamask (originally "Vapor"), two Ethereum related meetups, the Ethereum developer evangelism program (EtherCasts), and numerous early whitepapers on reputational systems and governance."
Claimed dates: Dec 2013 to Aug 2014
Grok says …
"Joel Dietz, a self-described early cryptocurrency entrepreneur and intellectual historian, filed a lawsuit on August 1, 2023, in San Francisco Superior Court against Consensys (the blockchain software company behind MetaMask), Aaron Davis (a MetaMask co-founder), Dan Finlay (the other MetaMask co-founder), and Joe Lubin (Consensys CEO). The suit centers on allegations that Dietz originated the concept for MetaMask—a popular Ethereum-based browser wallet extension—through his earlier project called Vapor, and that the defendants conspired to steal the idea, exclude him from ownership, and erase his contributions from the project's history."
"As of the current date (September 15, 2025), the case remains ongoing, with Dietz seeking to recover what he claims is his rightful share of MetaMask's value (estimated at billions, given Consensys's $7 billion valuation in 2022). No major resolution or dismissal has been publicly reported in recent searches, though the case has drawn attention for highlighting early Ethereum-era disputes over intellectual property and partnerships in the crypto space. Key legal questions include whether a formal partnership existed (based on informal Slack messages and collaborations) and when Dietz should have discovered any alleged theft."