Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum’s co-creator, recently made headlines by donating 200 Ethereum (ETH), valued at around $532,000, to the Effective Altruism Funds, an animal welfare initiative. This donation was made possible by converting a year’s worth of received memecoins into Ether.

Buterin frequently receives thousands of free memecoins, such as the viral Neiro (NEIRO) and various ERC-20 tokens, as part of marketing strategies by projects aiming to gain visibility. These tokens are often sent to well-known figures in the crypto space to acknowledge their contributions to blockchain technology.

Memecoin developers can easily send tokens to public figures like Buterin because some of their wallets are publicly known. For instance, Buterin uses the Ethereum Name Service (ENS) for his Vitalik.eth wallet. ENS allows users to associate easy-to-remember names with their on-chain addresses.

After converting his memecoins, Buterin urged the broader cryptocurrency community to engage in “more sophisticated public goods funding.” He has consistently advocated for memecoins that serve public-interest goals. His comments came during the memecoin surge earlier this year, which saw creators on platforms like Ethereum and Solana flooding the market with speculative, meme-inspired projects.

“Charity donation done, covering all animal coins from the past year or so! That said, I appreciate it if coin holdings just get allocated to the charities directly😊 It’s 2024, we can start doing more sophisticated public goods funding,” said Buterin in a recent tweet.

Despite Buterin’s remarks, memecoins continue to be highly profitable for developers and investors. Some projects, however, have been launched with malicious intent, leading to scams and rug pulls. Notably, Pump.fun, a service provider in this space, reported revenues exceeding $30 million in June, just six months after its launch in January.

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