The co-founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin, has made news again for his charitable work by giving over $500,000 worth of animal-themed memecoins to a foundation that helps animals. On August 15, Buterin posted on X (which used to be Twitter) that he had made the gift and included a proof from the Animal Welfare Fund of the Effective Altruism Fund.
Buterin, who is known for doing good things for others, told the memecoin community to send tokens to causes directly instead of going through him. Referring to a blog post he wrote about the possibilities of memecoins, he also asked people to use more cutting edge ways to pay for public goods
A strange set of events involving the Neiro Ethereum (NEIRO) memecoin led to the gift. As a way to get people’s attention, the project worked with Buterin, which caused the price of the token to drop by 60% after Buterin sold them. After that, though, the price went up by 200%. People from Neiro’s neighborhood went to X to thank Buterin and ask that he give some of the money to a shelter for stray dogs. Buterin did what they asked and gave the money to the shelter with a proof.
Buterin has spoken out against the celebrity-driven hype surrounding memecoins, saying that he doesn’t like how they often lack substance and purpose. On June 5, he said that financial tools should help the public good, whether it’s by promoting art, open-source software, or better health care. He compared memecoins, which don’t last long, to projects like Stoner Cats by Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis, which used NFTs to pay for a cartoon show.
