Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has refuted allegations that he sold millions of dollars of Ether for personal profit. He claimed to have sold his ETH holdings only to support various crypto projects and philanthropic initiatives.
On Aug. 30, a crypto community member on X accused Buterin of dumping over $2 million worth of Ether (ETH) after making a bullish tweet. Onchain analytics firm Lookonchain further suggested that the same wallet address received 3,000 ETH from the entrepreneur on Aug. 9.
Source: Lookonchain
On Aug. 31, Buterin responded to an X post supporting his rightful position to make a profit off selling a portion of ETH tokens he earned over the last seven years.
Buterin has not sold Ether since 2018
According to Buterin, he hasn’t sold any ETH for profit but to financially support various Web3 projects and charities:
“I haven’t sold and kept the proceeds since 2018. All sales have been to support various projects that I think are valuable, either within the Ethereum ecosystem or broader charity (eg. biomedical R&D).”
The revelation garnered support from community members, who widely encouraged Buterin to sell ETH for profit. “Don’t even defend it; you deserve the yacht, too,” said one of the X users.
Related: Solutions without problems: How many Ethereum layer 2s are too many?
Ethereum supports DeFi growth
Buterin has recently defended Ethereum against claims that the blockchain “doesn’t care” about decentralized finance (DeFi).
Kain Warwick, the inventor behind the concept of yield farming, said Buterin is not a maxi and doesn’t think he is infallible — particularly in his stance on DeFi.
“One of the most critical things that he’s gotten wrong over the last five years is the importance of DeFi.”
In response to a similar accusation from an X user, MilliΞ, Buterin emphasized his desire to see applications that are useful and sustainable while upholding the network’s two core principles: permissionlessness and decentralization.
The Ethereum co-founder further added that he does not respect “things whose attractiveness comes from some temporary source that has no sustainability.”
Magazine: ‘Everything feels like it’s going to shit’: Peter McCormack reveals new podcast