Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin recently moved a substantial $15 million USDC [USD Coin] worth of transactions on October 16, which piqued the interest of various blockchain tracking platforms, raising questions about its nature and purpose. Blockchain analytics firm PeckShield first reported the transfer from Buterin’s wallet, “vitalik.eth,” to the Gemini crypto exchange, amounting to $15 million. However, the Ethereum Foundation swiftly clarified the situation.
According to an ETH Foundation spokesperson, the transfer was the result of approval by Buterin’s Ethereum Name Service [ENS] for a transfer from a charity multisig wallet to fund a grant, not a standard transaction as envisaged. Importantly, the funds never left Buterin’s wallet. The original sum of 15 million USDC was received by Buterin from a biotech charity he was associated with and aimed at addressing COVID and pandemic-related issues. Later, Buterin approved the transfer of the same amount to a new multisig wallet address.
Additionally, on-chain experts also tracked a separate transfer of nearly $500k to Coinbase three days before this incident from Buterin. Despite these transactions, the price of Ethereum’s native currency, Ether, did not react, experiencing only a minor 0.68% decrease in the four hours following the news, as per CoinGecko price data.
Ethereum Community Remains Vigilant
This latest transaction is part of a series of transfers made by the Ethereum co-founder over the past few months. In the month of September alone, the total transfers from Buterin’s wallets surpassed nearly $4 million. On September 24, Buterin transferred 400 ETH, worth $600,000 at the time, to Coinbase. Prior to that, on August 21, a transaction of 600 ETH [p$1 million] from the “vitalik.eth” address had also been identified by on-chain monitoring platforms.
The Ethereum community continues to monitor these high-value transactions, highlighting the need for continued transparency and clarification in the blockchain space. As Buterin’s activities continue to be scrutinized, the crypto world watches closely for further developments.