Vitalik Buterin Sold a Hefty Amount of Meme Coins to Donate Over US$1M to Charity

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has sold at least 28 different meme coins on Monday, generating over US$1M (AU$1.6M) in USDC, according to data from Arkham Intelligence.

The proceeds were donated to Kanro, a non-profit organisation focused on pandemic prevention and research.

Following the sale, almost all of those memecoins saw some dramatic drops, as expected. Dodgy-Inu (DINU), for example, fell by over 50%, now 99% down from its all-time high in 2021.

Yet, unexpectedly, tokens like ESTEE, surged by over 100% in the span of several hours.

The price movements were inconsistent, with several assets experiencing disruptions due to their small market values and limited liquidity.

This isn't Buterin's first large-scale meme coin sale for charitable causes. In December, he donated 88 ETH to the Khao Kheow Open Zoo, resulting in a significant rally for the associated MOODENG token. In October, he sold over US$1 million in meme coins and distributed the proceeds to various charities.

Today’s sell-offs included 80.47 trillion JSHIBA tokens, which fetched 21,466 USDC, and 92,000 DOGE tokens, sold for 35,233 USDC. Most assets were sold for under 100,000 USDC, with some transactions involving trillions of tokens. The sales caused notable disruptions in smaller markets but did not lead to an overall market crash.

Memecoin projects frequently send large quantities of their tokens to Buterin. It's a popular marketing stunt, a way of projects to use his popularity to gain followers (usually resulting in the death of a coin, like what happened to DINU).

The practice began in 2021 with Shiba Inu. The team sent him tokens, claiming it was equivalent to “removing” them from circulation. Buterin sold and burned his SHIB holdings, leading to a 50% price drop at the time.

It's a highly unethical practice, and Buterin has begged developers to stop. But at least something good comes from it.