Vitalik Buterin Clarifies on Recent Crypto Transfers to Exchanges

Vitalik Buterin explained a clarification on recent transfers stating that he has never sold ETH for personal gains since 2018.
By Bhushan Akolkar
vitalik buterin

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has been making massive movements of cryptocurrencies over the past few days creating a buzz in the market. Just recently, Buterin conducted a $15 Million USDC transfer to crypto exchange Gemini.

Vitalik Buterin Clarifies on ETH Transfers

While the crypto community remains confused about the motive behind these transfers, the Ethereum co-founder has come clean explaining his intent behind selling these coins. In one of his recent posts, Buterin noted:

If you see an article saying “Vitalik sends XXX ETH to [exchange]”, it’s not actually me selling, it’s almost always me donating to some charity or nonprofit or other project, and the recipient selling because, well, they have to cover expenses. I haven’t “sold” ETH for personal gain since 2018.

Vitalik Buterin receives a number of cryptocurrencies in his wallet with new crypto projects sending his tokens at the early stage of launch on Ethereum. As a result, the Ethereum co-founder has held the practice of regularly donating all the crypto that he receives.

Buterin was an active donor during the COVID-19 times and has donated millions of dollars to help victims sail through the tough phase.

However, over the last month, he has turned much more active with frequent transfers to the exchanges. Interestingly, this comes at a time when the market has been facing strong selling pressure that thereby makes the crypto community skeptical. Earlier in October, Buterin also transferred $1.64 million worth of ETH to the Bitstamp exchange.

Decentralized Staking

Apart from the transfers, the Ethereum co-founder has also been quite focused on the developments taking place within the Ethereum ecosystem.

In a recent blog post, Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, discussed the future of Ethereum staking with a particular focus on addressing the current issue of centralization in the Ethereum ecosystem. He emphasizes the necessity for changes that can rebalance the system, promoting greater decentralization.

Buterin also delves into the concentration of power among Ethereum’s liquid staking providers, highlighting that Lido, a prominent liquid staking pool, holds more than 32% of staked ether.To tackle these challenges, Buterin is exploring more robust solutions.

Rather than solely relying on moral persuasion to encourage stakeholders to diversify their choice of staking providers, Buterin is considering protocol adjustments within Ethereum to enhance the decentralization of liquid staking.

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Bhushan Akolkar
Bhushan is a seasoned crypto writer with over eight years of experience spanning more than 10,000 contributions across multiple platforms like CoinGape, CoinSpeaker, Bitcoinist, Crypto News Flash, and others. Being a Fintech enthusiast, he loves reporting across Crypto, Blockchain, DeFi, Global Macros with a keen understanding in financial markets. 

He is committed to continuous learning and stays motivated by sharing the knowledge he acquires. In his free time, Bhushan enjoys reading thriller fiction novels and occasionally explores his culinary skills. Bhushan has a bachelors degree in electronics engineering, however, his interest in finance and economics drives him to crypto and blockchain.
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