ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has denied allegations that he has been selling significant amounts of Ether for personal gain. Buterin claimed to have sold his eth tokens to support various cryptocurrency projects and other charitable initiatives.
This is why the founder of ethereum moved $2 million worth of eth
On Friday, August 30, blockchain data tracker Lookonchain x.com/lookonchain/status/1829407124520374565″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener nofollow”>revealed Buterin transferred 800 eth (worth approximately $2 million) to a multi-sig wallet. This recipient address then exchanged 190 eth for 477,000 USDC shortly after.
In the post on the x platform, Lookonchain also noted that Buterin had moved 3,000 eth (equivalent to over $8 million) to the same multi-sig address on August 9. Such has been the level of on-chain activity seen from the ethereum co-founder in recent weeks.
This latest transfer prompted one member of the x cryptocurrency community to accuse Buterin of ignoring feedback regarding his recent eth transfers. Another cryptocurrency community then responded by saying that it wouldn’t be wrong for the ethereum co-founder to profit by reducing his eth holdings.
However, Buterin x.com/VitalikButerin/status/1829801352500801538″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener nofollow”>answered to this supportive post about x, in which he claims not to have sold eth for profit. The cryptocurrency founder said:
I have not sold and kept the proceeds since 2018. All sales have been to support various projects I believe are valuable, either within the ethereum ecosystem or a broader charity (e.g. biomedical R&D).
Buterin received even more support from the online crypto community following this revelation, with some members encouraging the ethereum co-founder to spend some of his assets on luxury.
How much Ether does Buterin own?
In a Reddit post three years ago, Buterin ethereum/comments/qkaa7r/comment/hj0czcg/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener nofollow”>revealed that all the Ether tokens he owns (11.9 million eth at the time) come from the pre-mine period, from which he received around 700,000 eth.
<img decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-318538 size-large" src="https://technicalterrence.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Ethereum-founder-Vitalik-Buterin-refutes-claims-he-sold-Ether-for.png" alt="ethereum” width=”961″ height=”660″ srcset=”https://bitcoinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Screen-Shot-2024-09-01-at-01.17.31.png?w=1628 1628w, https://bitcoinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Screen-Shot-2024-09-01-at-01.17.31.png?w=612 612w, https://bitcoinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Screen-Shot-2024-09-01-at-01.17.31.png?w=768 768w, https://bitcoinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Screen-Shot-2024-09-01-at-01.17.31.png?w=961 961w, https://bitcoinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Screen-Shot-2024-09-01-at-01.17.31.png?w=1536 1536w, https://bitcoinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Screen-Shot-2024-09-01-at-01.17.31.png?w=750 750w, https://bitcoinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Screen-Shot-2024-09-01-at-01.17.31.png?w=1140 1140w” sizes=”(max-width: 961px) 100vw, 961px” data-recalc-dims=”1″/>
Buterin's interaction with a Reddit user | Source: ethereum/comments/qkaa7r/comment/hj0czcg/" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">Reddit
To contextualize, pre-mining It can be compared to initial coin offerings (ICOs), where founders, developers and early investors are rewarded with a percentage of the tokens.
According to blockchain intelligence firm Arkham, Buterin currently holds around 240,000 eth (worth approximately $1.06 billion). This current figure is around 423,000 eth less than the initial tokens the ethereum co-founder received.
At the time of writing, the price of ethereum has fallen below $2,500, reflecting a 1.9% drop over the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, the altcoin’s price is down more than 10% over the past week, according to data from CoinGecko.
x/hyssRImb/” alt=”ethereum” width=”2174″ height=”1434″/>
The price of eth slips below the $2,500 mark on the daily timeframe | Source: ETHUSDT chart on x/hyssRImb/" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">TradingView
Featured image by Getty Images/Michael Ciaglo, chart by TradingView
