Ethereum Co-Founder Vitalik Buterin Continues Dumping Free Memecoins - Here’s What It Means

Another day, another memecoin purge from crypto's most influential developer.

The Pattern Continues

Vitalik Buterin maintains his systematic liquidation of free token allocations, creating waves across decentralized markets. The Ethereum co-founder's consistent disposals highlight the speculative nature of memecoin ecosystems—where even creators distance themselves from their own creations.

Market Impact

Each transaction triggers immediate price volatility, demonstrating the outsized influence single actors wield in decentralized networks. The moves come as regulatory scrutiny intensifies globally, putting pressure on token distributions that lack clear utility.

Whale Watching

On-chain analysts track every transfer, parsing whether these sales represent personal portfolio management or broader skepticism about token longevity. The pattern suggests even blockchain pioneers treat some assets as what they are—digital lottery tickets with expiration dates.

Because nothing says 'believer in the technology' like consistently cashing out free tokens while retail investors hold the bag. Classic crypto.

Vitalik Buterin does not like memecoin airdrops

The ethereum co-founder, much similar to the times he dumped memecoins before, has not commented publicly on the reason behind the latest disposal. In previous years, the Russian programmer publicly lashed out at the community for trying to use him as a “marketing vehicle” for new tokens, calling unsolicited airdrops “disruptive and unnecessary.”

“Many projects have opted to send a substantial chunk of their supply to me,” Buterin told his followers on X last year. “Anything that gets sent to me gets donated to charity too, though I truly prefer if you guys send to charity directly.”

I appreciate all the memecoins that donate portions of their supply directly to charity.

(eg. I saw ebull sent a bunch to various groups last month)

Anything that gets sent to me gets donated to charity too (thanks moodeng! The 10B from today is going to anti-airborne-disease…

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) October 7, 2024

He has maintained that stance since 2021, when he famously offloaded a chunk of shiba inu (SHIB) tokens worth around $1 billion. That transaction led to a 44% decline in SHIB’s price within 24 hours. 

Buterin later announced that he had donated the proceeds to India’s COVID-19 relief fund, struggling with oxygen and medical supply shortages during the pandemic’s peak.

About two years later, crypto transactions trackers like PeckShield traced another transaction in which Buterin sold 500 trillion SHIKOKU tokens, netting roughly 380 ETH, worth about $590,000 at the time.

Fast forward to January this year, Cryptopolitan, citing Lookonchain, reported that Buterin sold other memecoins he had received for free, including DOG, ESTEE, and DINU. The data showed he exchanged 340 billion DOG tokens for 5.2 ETH, alongside smaller conversions that totaled around $139,000 in proceeds.

Around October 10, Buterin liquidated a larger group of memecoins valued at 1,101 ETH (about $2.78 million at the time). According to reports, he donated 360.16 ETH, or roughly $884,000, from those sales to charitable causes.

Among the tokens sold in that round were 10 billion MOODENG, 200,000 MSTR, and 500 million EBULL,  which netted 395.95 ETH ($982,000), 93.23 ETH ($231,000), and 73.79 ETH ($183,000), respectively.

“I appreciate all the memecoins that donate portions of their supply directly to charity. Anything that gets sent to me gets donated to charity too (thanks, moodeng!). The 10B from today is going to anti-airborne-disease tech,” the Ethereum founder remarked.

No interest in memecoin development whatsoever

Many projects intentionally airdrop tokens to Buterin’s address, betting that he WOULD consider them “good,” or rather start market FOMO that would boost a project’s market cap numbers to top 10 levels, much like Elon Musk did for Dogecoin. 

Arkham’s blockchain data also shows he received other memecoins like 1 billion SPURDO tokens and 6.439 billion TWOGE tokens, likely part of yet another round of unsolicited airdrops.

Buterin’s overall crypto holdings during the week ending Thursday ROSE from $948.6 million to $973.55 million, a net gain of nearly $25 million within the seven days. Ethereum (ETH) is the dominant asset in his holdings, accounting for approximately $958.97 million, up from $934.16 million a week earlier. 

The address also holds a balance of wrapped Ethereum (AWETH) at $11.35 million, while its holdings of Augur (REP) increased slightly in value to $92,920.

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