Turning Fun Into 'Fun-Ding': Vitalik Buterin Donates $500K Of Animal-Themed Gifted Coins To Charity

The memecoin industry is known for the fun and engagement it provides to cryptocurrency users, but Vitalik Buterin, the creator of the Ethereum blockchain, is driving the utility of altcoins as he donated the "animal coins" gifted to him to an animal welfare charity.

When fun meets 'fun-ding'

Buterin on Thursday revealed that he converted the animal-themed tokens gifted to him into 200 Ether ($ETH), the native token of the Ethereum chain, and then donated it to the Animal Welfare Fund – Effective Altruism Funds.

As per data from his on-chain donation, Buterin's animal funds that he turned into $ETH reached $532,398. His total donation was $530,268.41 minus the payment processing fee.

He urged crypto users sending him animal-based tokens to allocate the coins "to the charities directly." He also encouraged crypto holders to "start doing more sophisticated public goods fun-ding."

Flashback to 2021

This is not the first time Buterin made it to the headlines due to his generous donations. In 2021, he donated around $1 billion worth of Shiba Inu ($SHIB) tokens to the India Covid-Crypto Relief Fund. Aside from the massive $SHIB donation, he also moved 500 $ETH worth around $1.9 million to the said fund.

Blockchain data showed that the $SHIB coins were sent to him by the token's creators. In 2021, Buterin was receiving massive amounts of new crypto tokens in his public digital wallet.

Donation sparks discussion

Buterin's latest donation sparked discussions among crypto users on X, with some prominent accounts and individuals commending him for his act and others revealing their own crypto donations.

The X handle of Neiro, an adopted dog of the owner of Kabosu, who was the inspiration of the world's top memecoin, Dogecoin ($DOGE), hailed Buterin's desire to encourage memecoin utility specifically by allocating coins to meaningful causes.

"Thank you for your continued attention and contributions to the development of the ecosystem. $Neiro looks forward to working with you and the entire community to promote more meaningful crypto culture and public good initiatives," the account said.

$BETS, which is described as a "culture coin for individual sovereignty," requested Buterin to join its community, saying it has donated $125,000 so far to anti-child trafficking causes.

The official account of $HEMULE, the token based on Buterin's beloved cat, praised the crypto executive's efforts toward animal welfare. "As your pet, I was truly honored when you traded $HEMULE and donated to charity," the account said.

What memecoins could be

Buterin wrote in a late March blog post that many memecoins have nothing much to offer. He asked, "If people value having fun, and financialized games seem to at least sometimes provide that, then could there be a more positive-sum version of this whole concept?"

He went on to say that there is "an unclaimed opportunity" in charity-centric coins. For Buterin, the crypto space would be more fun if memecoin projects could "contribute positively" not just to the ecosystem but also to the world outside digital assets.