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Ethereum Co-Founder Vitalik Buterin Clarifies $15 Million USDC Transaction

source-logo  cryptointelligence.co.uk 18 October 2023 07:22, UTC

The Ethereum Foundation has shed light on a recent $15 million USD Coin transaction involving Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, which garnered attention from various blockchain tracking platforms.

On October 16, Buterin’s wallet, known as “vitalik.eth,” was said to have transferred $14.93 million to the Gemini crypto exchange, as reported by blockchain analytics firm PeckShield on October 17.

However, a spokesperson from the Ethereum Foundation clarified to Cointelegraph that the transfer was simply Buterin’s Ethereum Name Service (ENS) signing off on a transfer from a charity multisig wallet. Contrary to appearances, the funds never actually left Buterin’s wallet.

The original sum of $14.93 million USDC came from Kanro, a charity associated with Buterin, on October 14. Later, Buterin authorized a transfer of the same amount to a new multisig wallet. Kanro, a biotech charity funded by Buterin, focuses on addressing Covid and other pandemic-related issues.

Additionally, crypto data provider Lookonchain revealed that Buterin had also transferred nearly $500,000 to Coinbase three days before the Gemini transaction.

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Despite this high-profile transaction, the price of Ethereum’s native currency, Ether, remained relatively stable, falling only 0.68% in the past four hours, according to CoinGecko price data.

Buterin’s recent transaction is part of a series of transfers over the last few months, totaling more than $3.9 million in September alone. On September 24, he transferred 400 ETH worth $600,000 at the time to Coinbase. Prior to this, on August 21, a 600-ETH transaction worth $1 million was also identified from the vitalik.eth address by on-chain monitoring platforms.

In summary, the recent $15 million transaction involving Vitalik Buterin turned out to be a transfer from a charity multisig wallet rather than an actual withdrawal from Buterin’s wallet.

Despite this, it attracted attention from various blockchain tracking platforms, adding to Buterin’s history of high-value transactions in recent months.

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cryptointelligence.co.uk