Vitalik Buterin Burns More Memecoins

Vitalik Buterin has burned billions of dollars in meme coins this year, and the crypto community seems to want to return the favor by sending him crypto. Buterin released his crypto wallet addresses to the public back in 2018, a move the billionaire may be regretting now. The billionaire has been receiving random amounts of meme coins, which could be why he’s been burning them.

DOGE-like meme coins such as Floki, Saiba Inu, and Baby Shiba have been a favorite of the crypto community. However, Vitalik Buterin may not be as supportive of some of the meme coins as others—he burned over $800,000 of the tokens on Oct. 20, 2021. They reportedly included about 370 billion Baby Shiba, 120 trillion Husky, 223 trillion Kishu Inu, and 300 trillion Jejudoge tokens.

The billionaire burned 90 percent of his total Shiba Inu holdings in May 2021, with more than 410 trillion SHIB tokens being taken out of circulation. The burned SHIB tokens were worth over $6 billion.

It’s estimated that Buterin once held more than 40 percent of SHIB tokens in circulation. The large amounts of Shiba Inu burned provided tremendous liquidity to the ecosystem and gave Buterin less control over the fluctuation of the token’s price.

A week before burning the Shiba Inu, Buterin donated 50 trillion SHIB to India to support the country’s fight against COVID-19. The donation was worth over $1.2 billion, and India’s COVID-Crypto Relief Fund was able to convert the SHIB tokens into USDC. In the same month of the donation, Buterin moved 325,000 Ether from his main wallet to an unknown wallet. The transfer was worth more than $ 1.3 billion.

Buterin plans to donate the rest of his SHIB holdings to a charity or a relief program of some sort. For now, it seems that the programmer will completely remove Shiba Inu from his crypto wallet, but for a great purpose. And as he's consistently sent meme coins, he could always have SHIB and other meme tokens in his wallet, whether he wants to or not.

Buterin has shown his support for Dogecoin over the years. In a now-deleted tweet, he even expressed that he believed in the success of the coin. He’s among the various crypto-supportive billionaires, who include Tesla founder Elon Musk and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.

Musk has been dubbed the "Dogefather," as he was one of the first celebrity endorsers for the token, and his tweets mentioning the token have boosted its price. Cuban has helped with the development of Dogecoin as well, as holders of the meme coin can purchase Mavericks tickets and merchandise with it.

In Aug. 2021, it was announced that the Dogecoin Foundation would be reestablished. Board members include Dogecoin founder Shibetoshi Nakamoto, a representative of Elon Musk, and Buterin himself. The foundation focuses on supporting the advancement of cryptocurrency, especially Dogecoin.