Cryptocurrencies

Vitalik Buterin offloads Shiba Inu-themed memecoin post airdrop

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Ethereum (CRYPTO:ETH) co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently sold his entire holdings of Neiro (CRYPTO:NEIRO) tokens, a Shiba Inu-themed (CRYPTO:SHIB) memecoin. 

This move occurred shortly after the Neiro project team airdropped 17.145 billion tokens to his Ethereum address, temporarily making him the largest holder of the coin. 

This amount, representing about 4% of Neiro’s total supply, was valued at approximately $130,000 at the time of transfer.

According to Lookonchain's real-time transaction data, Buterin converted his Neiro holdings into Ethereum, netting 44.53 ETH, roughly equivalent to $112,500. 

The analytics provider shared details of the transaction on X, stating, “Vitalik Buterin sold all 17.15B Neiro for 44.53 ETH ($112.5K) 1 hour ago. The Neiro team transferred 17.15B Neiro (4.08% of the total supply) to vitalik.eth after the launch.”

Following Buterin’s sale, the Neiro project team addressed him on X, requesting that he donate part of the proceeds to charity. 

The message read, “Hey Vitalik Buterin, we see that you sold your Neiro bag. Our humble ask is that you donate part of the proceeds to a stray dog shelter. And thank you for building our playground!” 

The Neiro team mentioned their own donation of $1,600 to the Chibawan stray dog shelter in Japan, where the Shiba Inu dog Neiro, after whom the memecoin is named, was once housed.

Neiro, modeled after Kabosu, the Shiba Inu dog made famous by the Doge meme, launched on the Ethereum blockchain with a community-driven approach and charitable activities, including donations to animal shelters.

The narrative surrounding the token airdrop and Buterin’s subsequent action has been contentious, particularly concerning media coverage. 

Neiro’s official account criticised a report by Cointelegraph for inaccuracies and alleged a lack of journalistic integrity. 

The statement clarified that the token distribution was not an organised promotional stunt but rather a decision by a developer before the project was community-driven.

Neiro emphasised that it is a community-funded project without ties to market manipulators or promotional entities, contrasting with other projects that might use such tactics. 

They stated, “We are, in fact, a community project, with no ties to the original dev who abandoned it just a few hours after its launch. That we are only funded by the community, and we employ no market makers, bots, or ‘KOLs’ to artificially pump the prices, unlike some other Neiro tokens out there – this is evident on-chain.”

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