Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently made a significant charitable contribution, donating over $500,000 in animal-themed memecoins to a charity focused on animal welfare.
On August 15, Buterin announced on X that he had completed the donation of these animal coins. He shared a receipt showing the donation to the Effective Altruism Funds’ Animal Welfare Fund.
According to the receipt, Buterin transferred 200 Ether (ETH), valued at $532,398, to the charity on August 14.
Buterin also encouraged the memecoin community to consider sending their donations directly to charities instead of to him. He further suggested that starting in 2024, the community should focus on more “sophisticated public goods funding,” referencing a previous blog post he wrote about memecoins.
The charity donation followed an unusual sequence of events involving a memecoin project called Neiro on ETH (NEIRO). The project aimed to attract attention by involving Buterin, and their strategy worked when he decided to sell the tokens. After his sale, the token’s price initially plummeted by 60%, but then rebounded with a 200% surge shortly after.
Neiro on Ethereum’s X account tagged Buterin and requested that he donate some of the proceeds to a stray dog shelter, stating:
“Our humble ask is that you donate part of the proceeds to a stray dog shelter. And thank you for building our playground!”
In response, Buterin shared the donation receipt on X, confirming that he had fulfilled the request.
Buterin has previously expressed concerns about celebrity-endorsed memecoin tokens, voicing his dissatisfaction with the trend. On June 5, he argued that financialization should serve a public good, contributing to society by promoting art, supporting open-source software, or improving healthcare.
In this context, Buterin’s post contrasted the celebrity-backed Mother Iggy (MOTHER) memecoin with the Stoner Cats project, an NFT-funded animated show by Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis. He noted that while Stoner Cats funded an actual show, many memecoins lack substance and purpose.
