Vitalik Buterin, founder of Ethereum, has recently responded to allegations of him selling his ETH holdings for personal gain. In a post on Warpcast, a forum for cryptocurrency discussions, Vitalik stated that he hasn’t sold any Ethereum (ETH) for profit since 2018.
His statements directly refuted the rumors and publications that have been circulating on several websites, addressing claims like “Vitalik sends XXX ETH to [exchange].”
He clarified that these kinds of transactions are typically gifts to charitable organizations or other initiatives. In order to pay for their operating costs, these beneficiaries frequently go on to sell the donated tokens. He therefore stressed that these deals shouldn’t be interpreted as his personal sell-offs.
The origin of these rumors lies in his recent movement of a substantial amount of USD Coin (USDC). On October 16, he sent about $14.9 million in USDC from his “Vitalik.eth” wallet to the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange. Discussions and arguments were raised by this transaction.
Regarding the transaction’s goal and recipient, there were a lot of rumors too. But now that TrustNodes has released its report, the incident is clearer.
It turns out that Buterin’s biotechnology nonprofit Kanro was the rightful owner of the USDC that was moved from Vitalik’s wallet. As such, the transaction was charitable in nature rather than personal.
This comes as no surprise, as Buterin has a history of making charitable donations to many charities. One such occasion was his $150,000 donation to Anka Relief in February 2023. The purpose of this donation was to support a crypto aid operation for Turkey, which had just been hit by several extremely powerful earthquakes.
Even with all of Buterin’s charitable activities, the cryptocurrency community still maintains a level of caution and suspicion. The cryptocurrency activities of the founder of Ethereum are constantly being watched, especially his high-value ETH transactions. This shows the effect that well-known individuals like Buterin can have on the cryptocurrency market.
The cryptocurrency community is aware that notable individuals’ activities, such as those of Buterin, can have a big influence on the stability and value of cryptocurrencies.
