Why Ethereum Founder Vitalik Buterin Just Burned 410 Trillion Shiba Inu Coins

Why Ethereum Founder Vitalik Buterin Just Burned 410 Trillion Shiba Inu Coins

Ethereum co-founder and crypto billionaire Vitalik Buterin has destroyed $7,023,342,984 worth of the Shiba Inu coin ($SHIB) in a move that looks promising for investors in the latest meme coin.

DISLCAIMER: The author of this article is not a financial expert and nothing in this story should be taken as financial advice. Consult a financial expert before investing.

Just days after donating $1.5 billion worth of SHIB to the India Covid-Crypto Relief Fund, Buterin sent 410,241,996,771,871.894771826174755464 coins to a dead wallet address, which effectively destroys them.

The now-destroyed coins account for a whopping 41% of the total SHIB in circulation.

vitalik shiba
Vitalik Buterin transferring 41% of the total SHIB in circulation to a dead wallet address, effectively destroying the coins.

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Alongside the transaction, Buterin left a note for the SHIB community:

“I’ve decided to burn 90% of the remaining Shiba tokens in my wallet. The remaining 10% will be sent to a (not yet decided) charity with similar values to cryptorelief (preventing the large-scale loss of life) but with more long-term orientation. COVID is a big problem now, but it’s important to think about the longer-term future too!” he wrote.

“Simply holding the remaining coins in the 0xab58 wallet forever was never an option; for security reasons alone they would have to be moved to a better wallet eventually, and any transaction I make would get interpreted as an action. So… may as well do the useful thing immediately.

“I’ve actually been impressed by how the dog token communities have treated the recent donation! Plenty of dog people have shown their generosity and their willingness to not just focus on their own profits but also be interested in making the world as a whole better. I support all who are earnestly doing that.

“But for anyone making coins (or daos, or whatever else) in the future, PLEASE DO NOT GIVE ME COINS OR POWER IN YOUR PROJECT WITHOUT MY CONSENT! I don’t *want* to be a locus of power of that kind. Better to just print the coins into the hands of a worthy charity directly (though do talk to them first).”

It’s worth noting that Buterin’s holdings in SHIB were gifted to him by the coin’s founders at launch as a marketing tactic. So ultimately, Buterin had nothing to lose.

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Following Buterin’s transaction, the official SHIB Twitter account released a statement of its own, asserting that “as huge as this moment is, remember that it is only the beginning.”

Naturally, investors were quick to flood social media with positivity following Buterin’s transaction, asserting that this could be the thing to send the coin to the moon.

Considering the circulating supply of SHIB has effectively been halved overnight, each individual coin is technically rarer and therefore more valuable.

However, it’s worth noting that cryptocurrencies, especially meme coins are based almost entirely on speculation, so this one singular action doesn’t necessarily mean that the value will skyrocket.

Between May 7 and May 10 2021, SHIB made a gain of nearly 3,000 percent before taking a significant tumble last week as the broader crypto market took a dip.

As is the case with any investment, don’t invest any money that you can’t afford to lose. Cryptocurrency investments – especially with meme coins – are incredibly risky and should be taken with utmost caution.

Gizmodo Australia has reached out to Vitalik Buterin for comment.


DISCLAIMER: The author of this article has a small investment in SHIB.


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