Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin has once again made headlines for offloading billions of meme coins that he received for free from various token teams and community members. This move by Buterin has reignited memories of how he handled the Shiba Inu tokens back in 2021, when the meme coin’s founder sent him a substantial amount of SHIB tokens.
According to on-chain analytics platform Onchain Lens, Vitalik recently sold 150 billion PUPPIES for 28.58 ETH ($114,480) and 1 billion ERC20 for $13,889 USDC. These tokens were gifted to him, a common practice in the meme coin community, where tokens are sent to prominent figures like Vitalik.
In 2021, the Shiba Inu founder sent 500 trillion SHIB tokens to Vitalik, representing half of the meme coin’s total supply. In a bold move, Vitalik burned 450 trillion tokens by sending them to a dead wallet, while he donated the remaining 50 trillion tokens to support COVID-19 relief efforts.
Since then, Vitalik has adopted a similar approach for every meme coin he receives, selling the tokens and donating the proceeds to charity. He has expressed his preference for these coins to be sent directly to charity and has encouraged community members to set up decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) for decision-making.
Vitalik believes that meme coins should have a positive impact on the world and has used his platform to raise awareness for these tokens. His handling of the SHIB tokens helped propel Shiba Inu into the spotlight during its legendary run in 2021, reaching an all-time high of $0.00008845.
Despite offloading billions of meme coins, Vitalik still holds a significant amount in his public wallet, with his largest holding being Moodeng, worth $518,000. However, his largest crypto holding remains Ethereum (ETH), with 240,000 ETH valued at over $1 billion.
Following ETH’s surge above $4,000, Vitalik regained his on-chain billionaire status briefly, but the recent crypto market downturn has put pressure on the altcoin’s price. At the time of writing, Ethereum is trading around $4,200, up over 2% in the last 24 hours.
As Vitalik continues to navigate the world of meme coins and crypto wealth, his actions and decisions will undoubtedly shape the future of the industry. His contributions to charity and advocacy for positive-sum outcomes for meme coins highlight his commitment to making a meaningful impact in the crypto space.