Ethereum Creator Vitalik Buterin Donates $532,000 to Animal Welfare Fund

• Buterin donates $532K ETH from unsolicited meme tokens to Animal Welfare Fund.
• Ethereum creator urges direct charity donations, avoiding unsolicited crypto transfers.
• Buterin advocates for meme coins with practical, charitable purposes.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has again utilized unsolicited cryptocurrency donations for a charitable cause. On Wednesday, Buterin donated $532,000 worth of Ethereum (ETH) to the Effective Altruism Fund’s Animal Welfare Fund. This donation came from selling off various animal-themed meme tokens that crypto community members had sent to his wallet.

Meme coins, often based on popular animals like dogs, cats, and ducks, are commonly sent to prominent figures in the cryptocurrency industry. Buterin has frequently found his Ethereum wallet filled with these tokens, often without his consent. While some crypto users might send these tokens as a tribute to Buterin, others may see it as a way to add legitimacy to their projects by associating them with a key figure in the industry.

These donations, given without Buterin’s request, have not always been appreciated. Buterin, an important person in the development of Ethereum, has said he feels uneasy about holding large amounts of these tokens. Despite this, he has decided to use these assets for good by converting them into Ethereum and donating the money to causes he supports.

Buterin has previously utilised meme currencies to benefit others. The anonymous inventors of the Ethereum meme coin Shiba Inu transferred half of its entire supply, which was valued at about $7 billion at the time, to Buterin’s wallet in 2021. As a response, Buterin destroyed the remaining tokens to reduce the supply and donated $1 billion worth of SHIB to fund COVID-19 relief efforts in India.

Buterin has made it clear that he would prefer these meme coins be directly donated to charities rather than being sent to his wallet. He recently reiterated this stance, encouraging the crypto community to focus on creating tokens with more practical and charitable uses.