- Vitalik Buterin donated 150 ETH to two funds helping those affected by the devastating earthquake in Türkiye.
- The 150 ETH amounted to around $227,000 at the time of donation.
- Buterin has been active in philanthropy over the past few years.
Ethereum co-founder Viltaik Buterin has made at least two substantial donations to help victims in Türkiye suffering from the recent 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck both Türkiye and Syria on February 6.
Buterin’s first donation was on February 11. He sent 50 ETH, worth around $77,000 at the time, to Anka Relief, a crypto relief fund formed specifically to help those affected by the earthquake.
Sponsored
Anka Relief later thanked Buterin on Twitter and provided a list of its wallets that people could use to donate.
🇹🇷 We want to thank @VitalikButerin for donating 50 ETH ~$75k to Anka Relief, a crypto aid fund & community to support Türkiye after the recent earthquakes. https://t.co/kGwXSGWL8J
— Anka Relief (@AnkaRelief) February 12, 2023
Dive into the thread below to better understand our mission and ops👇
🔗 https://t.co/92CkxevI5e
Buterin then donated another 100 ETH worth around $150,000 on February 12 to Abhap, a non-governmental and non-profit organization dedicated to relief efforts in Türkiye.
Abhap claims it has received over $4.3 million in crypto donations so far. Most of the donations have come in stablecoins USDT, USDC, and BUSD, as well as ETH and Avalanche (AVAX).
Buterin sent both of the donations from his vitalik.eth wallet address. This is not the first time the Ethereum co-founder has donated to a good cause in recent years.
Buterin’s Philanthropic History
Buterin, considered the youngest crypto billionaire, has been active in philanthropy over the last few years.
For example, Buterin donated at least $5 million to various Ukrainian charities and NGOs since the country got invaded almost a year ago.
On top of that, Buterin made some of his donations to Ukraine using Tornado Cash. This Ethereum-based mixer was banned by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
Buterin has also donated to various medical causes. For example, the Ethereum co-founder donated $9.4 million in USDC to the University of Maryland last year to fund a research initiative that could prevent future pandemics.
One of the more memorable of Buterin’s donations is the $100 million in USDC he donated to CryptoRelief, India’s COVID-19 relief fund. Buterin got the $100 million after someone sent him one billion Shiba Inu (SHIB) tokens.
Buterin later received the $100 million donation back from CryptoRelief because it would be faster and more efficient for him to deploy the funds elsewhere in the biotechnology and medical space.
On the Flipside
- 150 ETH is not a huge sum of money for a crypto billionaire like Buterin. However, he may have donated using other wallet addresses or a mixer.
Why You Should Care
Buterin is one of the most active crypto philanthropists. His donations in cryptocurrencies to various causes have shown what blockchain technology is capable of.
