Vitalik Buterin Donates $532K to Animal Welfare from Memecoins Sent to His Wallet
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin donated $532,000 worth of Ethereum (ETH) to the Effective Altruism Fund's Animal Welfare Fund. This donation was funded by selling off meme-themed, Ethereum-based tokens sent to him over the past year.
Memecoins, typically featuring dogs, cats, and other creatures, have frequently been sent to Buterinâs wallet without his consent. Crypto users often send tokens to prominent figures in the industry like Buterin, sometimes in small amounts, but occasionally in substantial quantities.
In 2021, the creators of Shiba Inu, a popular Ethereum meme coin, transferred 50% of the tokenâs supplyânearly $7 billion worthâto Buterinâs wallet. Buterin responded by donating $1 billion of it to India's Covid relief efforts and burning the remainder, stating he did not wish to hold such power.
Buterin has consistently expressed his distaste for receiving unsolicited tokens. Despite his willingness to donate these funds to worthy causes, he emphasized this week that he would prefer if tokens were allocated directly to charities instead.
In a recent blog post, Buterin outlined a "positive-sum" vision for meme coins, arguing that many current meme-inspired cryptocurrencies simply fluctuate in price without adding real value. He suggested that the financial mechanisms behind meme coins could be harnessed to support public goods and charities. He urged the crypto community to design meme coins with beneficial, practical purposes such as charity fundraising.
