- Vitalik Buterin sold $1.6 million worth of memecoins, converting them into Ether for charitable donations.
- Blockchain data reveals Buterin has donated $884,000 in the past nine days from memecoin sales.
- Buterin suggests memecoin creators should donate directly instead of sending him tokens for this purpose.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has transformed another $1.6 million in memecoins he received into Ether, with the goal of using the funds for charity. Recent blockchain data from Spot On Chain indicates that Buterin sold $982,800 worth of Moo Deng (MOODENG), $231,000 of Monsterra (MSTR), and $183,000 from Ethereum Is Good (EBULL).
Additional tokens, such as Popcat (POPCAT), Fwog (FWOG), and Vitalek Buteren (VITALIK), were also part of the assets Buterin converted. His latest move brings the total value of memecoins exchanged for Ether to $2.78 million, of which $884,000 has been donated to charitable causes in just over a week.
Ongoing Contributions to Charities
On October 7, Buterin reiterated his intention to donate all the memecoins he received. He shared via social media that he was transferring 10 billion tokens to a group focused on anti-airborne-disease technology. This is not the first time Buterin has used memecoins for philanthropic purposes. In August, he donated various animal-themed tokens collected over the past year to the Effective Altruism Funds’ Animal Welfare Fund.
Spot On Chain’s analysis also shows that Buterin’s current crypto holdings still include a sizable amount of memecoins. His portfolio contains $2.4 million in Moo Deng, along with smaller amounts of Neiro (NEIRO), Monsterra, and Degen (DEGEN), suggesting that more charitable contributions may follow.
Memecoins for a Cause
Buterin has been a vocal supporter of using memecoins to help fund public projects, particularly those that benefit people in low-income countries. However, he has criticized celebrity-backed memecoins, calling them self-serving and primarily intended to benefit the celebrity and early investors.
Additionally, Buterin’s name has recently been proposed for the 2024 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. Economists Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok highlighted Buterin’s influence on Ethereum, particularly in transitioning the platform to proof-of-stake, which they see as a significant technological and economic achievement.