Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently explained that he would no longer invest in layer-2 projects and that all proceeds from selling Ether would be donated “to support public goods within the Ethereum ecosystem or broader charity.”
Buterin’s remarks came in response to questions raised by users on X over a recent slate of cryptocurrency transfers he’d been involved in. As Cointelegraph recently reported, Buterin was accused by crypto denizens on social media of dumping millions in Ether (ETH) for personal profit. He subsequently denied these allegations, saying that “all sales have been to support various projects that I think are valuable.”
Source: Vitalik Buterin
Weeks later, on Sept. 6, Buterin picked the conversation back up in response to an X user who questioned the developer’s policy against investing. He described the value in, essentially, granting money to firms aligned with Ethereum’s values or those willing to commit to furthering its mission.
Per Buterin:
“There are other options to get leverage out of giving money, eg. it can be in exchange for commitments to be positive-sum toward Ethereum and/or humanity in some specific ways, and the value of that commitment can easily be greater than 0.14% of a company.”
Kelvin Santos, co-founder and CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Quiver Trade, wrote, “Wouldn’t it be even better to also invest in projects you believe in, with positive externalities, and then you can use the profits/returns for good again in the future?”
Donations vs. investments
Buterin’s response acknowledged Santos’ observation but presented a different view on the idea of profits and returns:
“The gains of the cycle you describe are real but seem at present less than the gains of having a clear stance that sets an example and increases confidence that I’m not part of some plot to twist the Ethereum protocol in directions that benefit random infra/L2 tokens that I hold.”
During the same conversation, Buterin made clear that he does not intend to invest in layer-2 or token projects aside from Ethereum in the foreseeable future. “My goal with giving projects money is to support things that I think are valuable,” he wrote, adding that “going forward, I plan to just do this with donations.”
Related: Vitalik Buterin: Bullish on Google sign-in, bearish on duels to the death