Vitalik Buterin Earns $139K From Free Memecoins

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has made $139,000 by selling free memecoins that he received. Blockchain tracking service Lookonchain reported the details of the transactions in question. Buterin sold three memecoins—DOG, ESTEE, and DINU—for Ethereum and USDC.

Vitalik Buterin made $139K by selling memecoins. Source: LookOnChain on X

Buterin sold 340 billion DOG tokens for 5.2 ETH and exchanged 50.48 billion ESTEE tokens for 116,307 USDC. Additionally, he sold 10 trillion DINU tokens for 4,181 USDC. The combined value of the sales was $139,000. While no one knows where the funds will go, Buterin has a history of donating proceeds from such sales to charity.

Buterin’s History Of Donation From Memecoin Sales To Charities

This is not the first time Vitalik Buterin has profited from memecoin sales and donated the proceeds. In October 2022, he earned 1,101 ETH, worth $2.78 million at the time, by selling various memecoins. Of this, he donated 360.16 ETH, equivalent to $884,000, to charity.

Some of the notable tokens he sold included 10 billion MOODENG for 395.95 ETH ($982,000), 200,000 MSTR for 93.23 ETH ($231,000), and 500 million EBULL for 73.79 ETH ($183,000). A significant portion of his donations—320 ETH, or approximately $1.07 million—went to Coin Center, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit.

Vitalik Buterin Calls to Stop Sending Memecoins

Previously, Buterin had publicly urged developers to stop sending him memecoins. He explained that he donates all unsolicited tokens to charity. He also encouraged memecoin creators to directly donate to charities or set up decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) to involve their communities.

Buterin urges developers to donate memecoins directly to charity. Source: X

Vitalik Buterin has also criticized the trend of creating memecoins based on celebrity names, calling it a distraction from meaningful projects. He argues that these coins lack purpose and misuse resources, undermining Ethereum’s founding principles.

Buterin Donated 50 ETH To Roman Storm’s Legal Defense Fund

In addition to his charitable work, Buterin recently supported Roman Storm, a Tornado Cash developer facing legal challenges. On December 31, Buterin donated 50 ETH to Storm’s legal defense fund. Storm is set to face trial in the U.S. on April 14 for alleged money laundering and sanctions violations.

Storm expressed his gratitude to Buterin, thanking him for the contribution.

Roman Storm expressed his gratitude for Buterin. Source: X

The Tornado Cash developer revealed that his legal defense fund has raised $640,061 so far, which is 33% of the $2 million goal.

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