Vitaly Dmitrievich Buterin (Russian: Вита́лий Дми́триевич Буте́рин; born 31 January 1994), better known as Vitalik Buterin (Russian: Вита́лик Буте́рин), is a Russian-Canadian programmer, writer, and theorist, best known as a co-founder of Ethereum. He became involved with cryptocurrency early, co-founding Bitcoin Magazine in 2011, and has influenced modern finance through blockchain technology, pioneering decentralized systems beyond cryptocurrencies. By the age of 31, his work served as a case study in the convergence of technology and economics.¹During this time, Buterin attempted to join the crypto platform Ripple but was unable to do so due to US visa issues. Determined to succeed, he completed a whitepaper outlining Ethereum, described as a “decentralised mining network and software development platform rolled into one.” Ethereum aimed to provide a platform for creating new crypto assets and programs using the same blockchain ledger. Initially intended to improve Bitcoin with a scripting language, Bitcoin’s rejection led Buterin to pursue Ethereum independently.²

He co-founded Ethereum with Mihai Alisie, Jeffrey Wilcke, Gavin Wood, Joseph Lubin, Charles Hoskinson, Anthony Di Iorio, and Amir Chetrit.³ The concept was first introduced in 2013, unveiled at a 2014 conference in Miami, and officially launched in 2015. An initial coin offering for Ether raised US$18 million to support the platform’s development.

The team established the Ethereum Foundation, a Switzerland-based non-profit, to oversee and manage the platform, support the development of decentralized applications, and advance blockchain technology worldwide.

¹Trainy “Vitalik Buterin: The visionary genius behind Ethereum and the blockchain revolution” Achieved

²Fintech Magazine, “Founding Ethereum: Vitalik Buterin, the crypto pioneer” Achieved, Retrieved October 2013

³Localcoinatm, “Ethereum (ETH): What Is It & How Does It Work?” Achieved, Retrieved April 2024

Early life and education

Vitalik Buterin
	Buterin in 2015
Native name	Виталик Бутерин
Born	Vitaly Dmitrиевич Buterin; 31 January 1994 (age 31); Kolomna, Russia
Education	University of Waterloo
Known for	Ethereum, Bitcoin Magazine
Awards	Thiel Fellowship
Fields	Digital contracts, digital currencies, game theory
Website	Personal website

Vitalik Dmitriyevich Buterin was born on January 31, 1994, in Kolomna, Russia, an industrial town of approximately 150,000 near Moscow, known for its historic Kremlin. His father, Dmitry Buterin, is a computer scientist, and his mother, Natalia Ameline, has a background in finance. Kolomna’s harsh winters, dusty summers, and industrial environment contributed to a simple, challenging upbringing. Both parents are intellectuals, come from middle-class families, and live on wages.⁴

He lived in Russia until age six before his family immigrated to Canada for better employment opportunities. Showing early talent, he was placed in a gifted program in third grade, influenced by his father Dmitriy Buterin, a computer scientist.⁵ While in grade three, Buterin exhibited advanced levels of IQ and was drawn to mathematics, programming, and economics.⁶ He then attended the Abelard School, a private high school in Toronto.

Buterin learned about Bitcoin at age 17 from his father, sparking an interest that defined his career. After high school, he attended the University of Waterloo, where he took advanced courses and worked as a research assistant for cryptographer Ian Goldberg, co-creator of Off-the-Record Messaging and former chairman of the Tor Project’s board of directors. In 2012, he won a bronze medal at the International Olympiad in Informatics in Italy.⁷

In 2011, Buterin began writing for Bitcoin Weekly to earn Bitcoin. In September 2011, Mihai Alisie invited him to co-found Bitcoin Magazine, where he became a leading writer. Buterin attempted to join Ripple, but U.S. visa issues prevented employment. In 2013, he visited developers abroad and later returned to Toronto to publish a white paper proposing Ethereum

He dropped out of university in 2014 after receiving a $100,000 grant from the Thiel Fellowship, a scholarship created by venture capitalist Peter Thiel, to work on Ethereum full-time. In 2014, Buterin launched Ethereum, a decentralized blockchain platform that became the second-largest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin. When asked why, Dmitry responded: “It was really interesting. All three of us had a very similar reaction that we supported him because we all knew that he’s a very bright wonderful young adult and, if he drops out, he will be totally fine.”⁹

The Faculty of Business and Economics of the University of Basel awarded Buterin an Honorary Doctorate on 30 November 2018 during Dies Academicus, honoring him as an exceptionally creative and innovative thinker who has played a decisive role in shaping the digital revolution. Game theory, economic incentives, and mechanism design are central to his research, aligning with the Faculty’s Center for Innovative Finance (CIF).¹⁰

Buterin is now the world’s youngest crypto billionaire, owning approximately 334,000 Ether, which traded at just above $3,415 per coin as of May 2021, giving him a wallet value of about $1.14 billion. Reflecting on his education, Buterin said: "I am truly grateful to have the opportunity to work in such an interesting and interdisciplinary area of industry, where I have the chance to interact with cryptographers, mathematicians and economists prominent in their fields, to help build software and tools that already affect tens of thousands of people around the world, and to work on advanced problems in computer science, economics and philosophy every week."

His notable awards include the Thiel Fellowship, 2014, World Technology Award in the IT Software category, 2014, Fortune 40 under 40 list, 2016, Forbes 30 under 30 list, 2018, Fortune the ledger 40 under 40 list, 2018 and University of Basel Honorary doctorate, 2018 ¹¹

⁴Binance, “From a Russian boy genius to the legendary life of Vitalik Buterin in the cryptocurrency world” Achieved

⁵Edmore (Private) Limited, “Vitalik Buterin: The Man Behind Ethereum” Achieved, Retrieved July 2024

⁶The Blockmanity, “7 Things you probably didn’t know about Vitalik Buterin & Ethereum” Achieved, Retrieved August 2022

⁷Geniuses, “Vitalik Buterin” Achieved

⁸Gulf News, “Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin donates $1.14 billion in crypto to Covid-hit India” Achieved, Retrieved May 2021

⁹Zyto, “Vitalik Buterin: The 30-year-old Dropout Who Revolutionized Blockchain” Achieved

¹⁰University of Basel,Faculty of Business and Economics “ Honorary Doctor” Achieved

¹¹Nodeflair, “How Vitalik Buterin Co-Founded Ethereum at the Age of 19 as a Developer" Achieved

Career

Bitcoin Magazine

In early 2011, 17-year-old Vitalik Buterin was introduced to Bitcoin by his father, Dmitry Buterin. Initially skeptical, he decided three weeks later to study it in depth, which changed the trajectory of his life.

With no funds to buy bitcoins or mining equipment, Buterin began writing for Bitcoin Weekly, earning five bitcoins per article (about $3.50). His articles caught the attention of Romanian enthusiast Mihai Alisie. In September 2011, Alisie invited him to co-found Bitcoin Magazine, the first serious cryptocurrency publication, which reached about 1.5 million readers before its 2015 acquisition.

Buterin became increasingly active in the Bitcoin community. His articles and opinions gained widespread attention, and he began communicating with developers and enthusiasts worldwide, laying the foundation for his later creation of Ethereum.¹²

In May 2012, the first print edition of Bitcoin Magazine, the original publication devoted exclusively to Bitcoin, debuted. Founded by Vitalik Buterin and Mihai Alisie, that first edition, with its iconic Anonymous mask on the cover, has become one of the most sought-after collectibles in the Bitcoin space.

Buterin and Alisie later joined forces with Orlando, Florida-based Coin Publishing LLC to produce 22 issues. BTC Media (now BTC Inc) acquired Bitcoin Magazine in 2015 and moved the publication entirely online.¹³ In 2016, Vitalik was briefly on the editorial board of Ledger. Ledger is a peer-reviewed cryptocurrency and blockchain-based journal that was one of the first on the subject.

¹⁴Binance Square, “From a Russian boy genius to the legendary life of Vitalik Buterin in the cryptocurrency world” Achieved

¹⁵Nasdaq, “Get Ready for a New Print Edition of Bitcoin Magazine!” Achieblockchain journal that was amongved, Retrieved January 2019

Possible job at Ripple

Vitalik Buterin once reached out to Jed McCaleb, the current CTO of Stellar (XLM), for a potential job at Ripple. The deal fell through, however, as Ripple could not support Buterin's U.S. visa. In 2013, he published the whitepaper of Ethereum and was awarded a grant of $100,000 the following year, which led him to drop out of college and work on Ethereum full-time.¹⁴

In 2014, disenchanted with academics, Buterin accepted a Thiel Fellowship for his preliminary work on Ethereum and left the University of Waterloo during his freshman year to focus on the smart contract platform.

The University of Basel’s Faculty of Business and Economics later awarded him an honorary doctorate during the annual Dies Academicus celebration, which commemorates the opening of the university. The Dean, Prof. Dr. Aleksander Berentsen, described Buterin’s blockchain innovations as “game-changing,” adding that he has “blazed a trail for science and industry to follow and work together.”

Buterin commented on the honor, stating: “I’m honored to have received an honorary doctorate from the University of Basel, the oldest university in Switzerland. Switzerland is well known for its innovative blockchain research.”¹⁵

Ethereum

Buterin is the inventor of Ethereum, described as a "decentralised mining network and software development platform rolled into one" that facilitates the creation of new cryptocurrencies and programs that share a single blockchain (a cryptographic transaction ledger). In January 2014, the project was announced publicly for the first time. The core team consisted of Vitalik Buterin, Mihai Alise, Anthony Di Iorio, Charles Hoskinson, Gavin Wood

and Joe Lubin. To date, Ethereum offers its users much more than its coin, Ether. Starting from NFTs, crypto games and crypto gaming tokens, Buterin and his team of like-minded individuals have taken Ethereum to a new level.

Currently, Vitalik has an estimated net worth of $1.5 billion. Buterin firmly believes that Ethereum will dominate the metaverse within the upcoming 10 years, and he is working towards that goal.¹⁶ He became the world's youngest crypto billionaire at age 27 when Ether, Ethereum's native cryptocurrency, first crossed $3,000 per coin in May 2021.¹⁷

Buterin first proposed the kernel of this work in late November 2013. Though now evolved in many ways, the key functionality of a blockchain with a Turing-complete language and an effectively unlimited inter-transaction storage capability remains unchanged.¹⁸

This introductory paper was initially published in 2014 by Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, before the project's launch in 2015. It's worth noting that Ethereum, like many community-driven, open-source software projects, has evolved since its initial inception.¹⁹

Initially intending to improve Bitcoin by adding a scripting language for applications, Buterin’s proposal was ignored, leading him to develop Ethereum. He co-founded the platform with Mihai Alisie, Jeffrey Wilcke, Gavin Wood, Joseph Lubin, Charles Hoskinson, Anthony Di Iorio, and Amir Chetrit. Unveiled in 2014 at a Miami conference, they held an initial coin offering for Ether, raising US$18 million to fund Ethereum’s development.²⁰

The team then established the Ethereum Foundation, a non-profit organisation based in Switzerland, that would run the crypto platform.

Ethereum was first described in Buterin's white paper, in late 2013. Buterin argued that Bitcoin needed a scripting language for application development. But when he failed to gain

agreement, he proposed the development of a new platform with a more general scripting language.²¹

Because Buterin authored the Ethereum whitepaper, he is often credited as the platform’s founder, though many computer scientists contributed. Dr. Gavin Wood developed Ethereum’s Solidity language, and Charles Hoskinson influenced early development. Today, Wood and Hoskinson lead Polkadot and Cardano, respectively. Buterin presented his blockchain vision at the 2014 North American Bitcoin Conference, and later that year, the team conducted an initial coin offering (ICO) for ETH to early investors.²²

The public announcement of Ethereum occurred at the North American Bitcoin Conference in Miami in early 2014. Buterin delivered a 25-minute speech describing Ethereum as a “general-purpose global computer operating on a decentralized permissionless network,” outlining applications from crop insurance to decentralized exchanges and DAOs. By 2015, the Ethereum blockchain was deployed, marking a new era in cryptocurrency and blockchain technology that would support a multi-billion-dollar ecosystem.²³

The Ethereum blockchain launched in July 2015 under the codename "Frontier." Its first version used a proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism, similar to Bitcoin, in which computers solve complex algorithms to validate transactions and earn ETH rewards. Unlike Bitcoin, ETH has no maximum supply, making it inflationary until the 2022 Ethereum Merge. The initial block reward was set at five ETH. Early Ethereum miners used GPUs instead of large ASIC rigs, making mining more accessible compared to Bitcoin and Litecoin.²⁴

Reflecting on the Ethereum Project in 2020, Buterin conveyed: “I am truly grateful to have the opportunity to work in such an interesting and interdisciplinary area of industry, where I have the chance to interact with cryptographers, mathematicians and economists prominent in their fields, to help build software and tools that already affect tens of thousands of people

around the world, and to work on advanced problems in computer science, economics and philosophy every week.”²⁵

However, in a 2018 New Yorker article, his father suggests that Buterin is trying to avoid the focus on him as the philosopher king of the blockchain world. “He is trying to focus his time on research,” Dmitry (Buterin’s father) said. “He’s not too excited that the community assigns so much importance to him. He wants the community to be more resilient ²⁶

Vitalik Buterin became a billionaire in May 2021 at age 27, when Ethereum traded around $3,000, valuing his holdings over $1 billion. Ethereum’s all-time high of approximately $4,870 in November 2021 further increased his fortune.²⁷ The 2022 crypto winter caused Ethereum to drop over 80%, temporarily removing it from billionaire status, but by August 2025, Ethereum’s recovery to over $4,200 restored its ten-figure wealth. His portfolio includes holdings in Aave Ethereum (AETHWETH), WhiteRock (WHITE), Moo Deng (MOODENG), and Wrapped Ethereum (WETH).

Unlike many crypto billionaires, Buterin’s wealth remains closely tied to Ethereum, reflecting his confidence in the platform. His 2025 vision focuses on strengthening Ethereum’s infrastructure and expanding the decentralized ecosystem. He advocates simplifying Ethereum’s protocol by replacing the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) with RISC-V to improve performance and reduce code complexity while maintaining smart contract capabilities.

Buterin continues to influence Ethereum’s development, promoting faster transaction finality, a stateless client architecture, enhanced privacy, and scaling Layer 1 by 10x within a year. He has criticized fake decentralization in the industry, emphasizing user guarantees and a return to core principles of decentralization and empowerment, as highlighted in his Ethereum Community Conference statements. ²⁸¹⁶Gabbar University, “Who Created Ethereum? Knowing Everything About Ethereum Founder” Achieved

¹⁵Bitcoin Magazine, “Ethereum Founder Vitalik Buterin Receives Honorary Doctorate” Achieved, Retrieved November 2018

¹⁶Clear Tax, “Vitalik Buterin” Achieved, Retrieved April 202Bitcoin5

¹⁷Forbes, Profile, “Vitalik Buterin”, Achieved

¹⁸Ethereum Yellow Paper, “ETHEREUM: A SECURE DECENTRALISED GENERALISED TRANSACTION LEDGER SHANGHAI VERSION” Achieved, Retrieved ²¹February 2025

¹⁹Ethereum. Org, “Ethereum Whitepaper” Achieved

²⁰Fintech Magazine, “Founding Ethereum: Vitalik Buterin, the crypto pioneer” Achieved, Retrieved October 2023

²¹Japan Today, “Blockchain influencer Oliver Isaacs and Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, convey how blockchain will change world” Achieved, Retrieved ²⁵February 2018

²²The World, “The History of Ethereum: Its Origin and Upgrades” Achieved, Retrieved April 2023

²³MEXC, “Who is Vitalik Buterin? The Complete Guide to Ethereum’s Founder” Achieved, Retrieved, November 2025

²⁴The World, “The History of Ethereum: Its Origin and Upgrades” Achieved, Retrieved April 2023

²⁵Blue Tech wave, “Who is Vitalik Buterin? From university dropout to Ethereum mastermind” Achieved

²⁶Viaeth, “Satoshi Nakamoto” Achieved, Retrieved 2022

²⁷Arkham, “Vitalik Buterin's Net Worth (2025)”, Achieved, Retrieved September 2025

²⁸MEXC, “Who is Vitalik Buterin? The Complete Guide to Ethereum’s Founder” Achieved, Retrieved November 2025

Open-source software

Throughout his career, Buterin has championed open-source software and contributed to various projects beyond Ethereum, including Kryptokit and DarkWallet. He has also been a vocal advocate for privacy on the Ethereum network, proposing innovative solutions like stealth addresses.²⁹ KryptoKit extension allows users to send bitcoin payments and encrypted messaging in a matter of clicks.

Buterin is also the author of Pybitcointools, a Python library for Bitcoin signatures and transactions. Vitalik Buterin joined the project in an ownership role in 2014 alongside Roger Ver and Erik Voorhees. The Toronto-based KryptoKit had launched a month earlier.

He was also involved in Bitcoin software projects, including multisig.info and the Bitcoin private key secret-sharing utility btckeysplit. He also, alongside other people, co-authored a paper on Colored Coins, which are altcoins marked with specific properties to reflect digital or physical assets (a stock, a derivative, a car, or a house).³⁰

Meeting with Russian President

On June 2, 2017, during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Vitalik Buterin, founder of the Ethereum blockchain platform. Buterin discussed potential applications of Ethereum’s technologies in Russia, and the President expressed support for establishing connections with possible Russian partners. The conversation followed Putin’s meetings with leaders of major foreign companies and business associations.³¹

²⁹Binance Square, “Vitalik Buterin: The Visionary Behind Ethereum” Achieved, Retrieved February 2024

³⁰Crypto Tomorrow, “Vitalik Buterin” Achieved, Retrieved November 2017

³¹President of Russia, “Meeting with founder of Ethereum project Vitalik Buterin” Achieved, Retrieved June 2017

Interaction with Glen Weyl

In 2013, Vitalik Buterin, then 19, proposed Ethereum, a blockchain project designed to create a decentralized version of the internet. By the time of its launch in 2015, Buterin had become a leading figure in the cryptocurrency community, regarded as a guru by many seeking guidance on blockchain technologies.

During this period, Glen Weyl, a principal researcher at Microsoft Research, noticed Buterin had tweeted about his proposal for a new wealth tax. Initially unfamiliar with him, Weyl soon recognized Buterin as an influential and highly regarded voice in the crypto space.³²

Vitalik Buterin and Glen Weyl describe their approach as “radical liberalism,” exploring how governance could be shaped through market mechanisms. They envision a future liberal political economy that is both more efficient and more egalitarian.

Unlike the anarcho-capitalist hyper-individualism of early cypherpunk, radical liberalism seeks to combine hyper-capitalism with socialist ideals of equality, promoting a balance between market-driven efficiency and social equity in governance.³³

A Flexible Design for Funding Public Goods

In 2019, Vitalik Buterin and Glen Weyl proposed, A Flexible Design for Funding Public Goods, presenting a mechanism for philanthropic or publicly funded seeding to optimize decentralized, self-organizing provision of public goods. The design extends quadratic voting concepts to funding, where contributions by citizens determine the allocation, proportional to the square of the sum of their square roots. Variations address cost limits, collusion prevention, and coordination, with potential applications in campaign finance. ³⁴

³²Wired, “This economist wants to abolish private property using blockchain” Achieved, Retrieved, June 2018

³³Semantics Scholar, “Crypto Politics: Notes on Sociotechnical Imaginaries of Governance in Blockchain Based Technologies” Achieved

³⁴Econ Paper, “A Flexible Design for Funding Public Goods” Achieved, Retrieved 2019

Quadratic Funding and Gitcoin Grants

Quadratic funding (QF), proposed in 2018 by Vitalik Buterin, Zoë Hitzig, and Glen Weyl, is a method for funding public goods in which contributions are amplified by the number of donors, giving more weight to broad grassroots support.

In 2019, Gitcoin introduced Gitcoin Grants to apply QF in Ethereum, supporting open-source software, developer tools, infrastructure, and educational projects. By 2025, Gitcoin expanded with the Grants Stack, Allo protocol, and Gitcoin Passport, distributing over $67 million to 5,000+ projects, including 1inch, Uniswap, Optimism, and Dune Analytics, reflecting the community’s priorities and empowering democratic funding.³⁵

Artificial intelligence

Support for Privacy Messaging Apps

In November 2025, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin donated approximately $765,000 in ETH to two privacy-focused messaging apps, Session and SimpleX, which aim to compete with sector leaders Signal and Telegram. Buterin emphasized that encrypted messaging is “critical for preserving our digital privacy” and highlighted the importance of permissionless account creation and metadata privacy.

Session is a decentralized, end-to-end encrypted messenger designed to minimize metadata leakage, while SimpleX focuses on giving users ownership of their identities, contacts, and communities. The donations reflect Buterin’s advocacy for privacy solutions amid growing concerns over global surveillance and digital personal freedom.³⁶

Shiba Inu OSINT Initiative

In May 2022, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin donated US$4 million in cryptocurrency via his Balvi Philanthropic Fund to the Kirby Institute at UNSW Sydney, establishing the Shiba Inu OSINT Initiative to support EPIWATCH, an open-source AI tool providing

pandemic early warning signals. This was UNSW’s first crypto gift and the largest known donation to an Australian university.

EPIWATCH, developed by Professor Raina MacIntyre since 2016, analyzes millions of publicly available data sources to detect early signs of epidemics, offering faster warnings than traditional reporting. The initiative aims to expand access to low- and middle-income countries, with local-language support. Buterin emphasized open-source collaboration for rapid detection and prevention, while UNSW highlighted its potential to improve global public health and prevent future crises.³⁷

Future of Life Institute (FLI) Donation

Future of Life Institute (FLI) Donation

In May 2021, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin donated $665 million in Shiba Inu cryptocurrency to the Future of Life Institute (FLI), a nonprofit focused on existential risks. This massive gift expanded FLI’s assets from $2.4 million to a level comparable with major policy organizations, significantly increasing its influence in global AI regulation debates.

FLI has used the funds to support AI safety researchers, regulatory advocacy, and advisory roles for the U.S. AI Safety Institute and U.K. initiatives. Through its Future of Life Foundation, FLI plans to create new organizations to guide transformative technologies safely. Leaders like Max Tegmark and Jaan Tallinn participate in global AI policy discussions, positioning FLI as a powerful voice in AI safety and broader existential risk mitigation.³⁸

Awards and recognition

In 2025, Bankless founder Ryan Sean Adams has opined that Ethereum's Vitalik Buterin should get nominated for a Nobel prize in economics.³⁹

Crypto Altruists, “Understanding Gitcoin Grants and Quadratic Funding: How Communities Fund What Matters” Achieved, Retrieved September 2025

30 Under 30 - Hall of Fame, 2022
Time 100, 2021
University of Basel Honorary doctorate, 2018
Fortune the ledger 40 under 40 list, 2018
Forbes 30 under 30 list, 2018
Fortune 40 under 40 list, 2016
World Technology Award in the IT Software category, 2014
Thiel Fellowship, 2014

³⁵Decrypt, “ Vitalik Buterin Donates 765K in Ethereum to Privacy Messaging Apps” Achieved

³⁶Crypto Altruists, “Understanding Gitcoin Grants and Quadratic Funding: How Communities Fund What Matters” Achieved, Retrieved September 2025

³⁷UNSW, Kirby Institute, “Major crypto gift to fund Kirby Institute open-source artificial intelligence tool to prevent pandemics” Achieved, Retrieved May 2022

³⁸Politico, “The little-known AI group that got $660 million” Achieved, Retrieved May 2021

³⁹Binance, “Buterin Deserves Nobel Prize, Ethereum Advocate Claims” Acieved, Retrieved January 2025

Philanthropy

Vitalik Buterin’s philanthropy centers on converting meme coins sent to his wallet into donations. Since 2021, he has contributed over $60 million to pandemic research, longevity projects, AI development, the conservation of the Moo Deng hippo in Thailand, and legal defense funds for Tornado Cash developers Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev.

On January 6, 2025, Vitalik Buterin liquidated $2.5 million in unsolicited memecoins, including CULT, DOGE, SHIB, and celebrity-themed tokens, converting $984,000 into USDC for his Kanro biotech fund. He periodically sells tokens sent to his “vitalik.eth” wallet to fund charitable initiatives and advance biotechnology research.⁴⁰

On October 13, 2024, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin converted $1.6 million in memecoins, including Moo Deng, Monsterra, and EBULL, into Ether for charitable purposes. Between October 4–13, 2024, he donated $884,000, part of $2.78 million in total memecoin

conversions, demonstrating his continued commitment to global philanthropy through cryptocurrency.⁴¹

On October 30, 2024, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin donated 400 ETH, worth over $1 million, to four Ukrainian humanitarian non-profits, including the UHF Fund. The donation, funded by swapping memecoins into ETH, highlights cryptocurrency’s growing role in philanthropy, providing rapid, flexible support for civilians and military personnel while showcasing innovative ways digital assets can drive social impact.⁴²

On March 29, 2024, Vitalik Buterin outlined a vision for the evolution of memecoins, arguing they can become socially beneficial rather than purely speculative. He highlighted examples like GiveWell Inu and Dogelon Mars (ELON), which he redirected toward biomedical research. Buterin proposed that integrating charitable mechanisms and engaging, value-aligned games could transform memecoins into positive-sum, community-driven tools with real-world impact.⁴³

In 2022, the University of Maryland received $9.4 million worth of ETH from Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. This gift came from Buterin’s Balvi Filantropic Fund and was the largest crypto donation ever given to a U.S. university. The donation supported the School of Public Health’s research into germicidal ultraviolet light (GUV) led by the Public Health AeroBiology Laboratory (PHAB Lab).⁴⁴

In May 2021, Vitalik Buterin donated $665 million in Shiba Inu (SHIB) cryptocurrency to the Future of Life Institute, a nonprofit advocating AI safety and strict regulations. This massive gift dramatically boosted the organization’s influence, enabling funding for AI safety research, advisory roles in Washington and London, and the creation of new initiatives addressing transformative technology risks.⁴⁵

On May 12, 2021, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin donated over $1 billion in cryptocurrencies, including 500 ETH and 50 trillion SHIB (Shiba Inu), to the India COVID-Crypto Relief Fund to help fight the pandemic. He also contributed $336 million in Ethereum and Dogelon Mars (ELON) to the Methuselah Foundation and over 13,000 ETH to GiveWell, supporting global health, tissue engineering, and charitable causes.⁴⁶

On February 2, 2018, Vitalik Buterin donated $2.4 million in Ethereum to the SENS Research Foundation, supporting regenerative medicine research on age-related diseases like Alzheimer’s, cancer, and heart disease. Inspired by Aubrey de Grey, the gift funded global research, education, and experimental projects, highlighting cryptocurrency’s philanthropic potential and exemplifying Buterin’s commitment to advancing biomedical science through innovation and technology.⁴⁷

⁴⁰Bitget, “Vitalik Buterin Liquidates $2.5M in Meme Coins to Fund Kanro Charity” Achieved, Retrieved January 2025

⁴¹Cointelegraph, “Vitalik Buterin sells another $1.6M in memecoins promised for charity” Achieved, Retrieved October 2024

⁴²Funds for NGOs, “Ethereum Founder Vitalik Buterin Donates Over $1 Million to Ukrainian Humanitarian Non-Profits” Achieved, Retrieved October 2024

⁴³CCN, “Vitalik Buterin Discusses the Potential of Memecoins: Charity and Gamification” Achieved, Retrieved March 2024

⁴⁴The Giving Block, “Annual Report on Crypto Philanthropy 2025” Achieved

⁴⁵Politico, “The little-known AI group that got $660 million” Achieved, Retrieved March 2024

Buterin’s Crypto Aid for Ukraine

On February 24, 2022, Russian-Canadian Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin publicly condemned Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, tweeting: “This is a crime against the Ukrainian and Russian people… Reminder: Ethereum is neutral, but I am not.” He had earlier warned Putin that an attack would harm Russia, Ukraine, and humanity. Cryptocurrency markets reacted, with Bitcoin dropping 3.8% and Ethereum falling 5.2%.⁴⁸

By February 28, 2022, around $20 million in cryptocurrency had been donated to support Ukraine. The Ukrainian government shared official Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT wallet addresses on Twitter, which Buterin verified, confirming their legitimacy and emphasizing crypto’s role in enabling rapid humanitarian aid during the conflict.⁴⁹

⁴⁶Techcrunch, “Ethereum creator donates meme coins worth $1 billion to help India fight COVID-19” Achieved, Retrieved May 2021

⁴⁷Sante Log “SENS Research Foundation Receives $2.4 Million Ethereum Donation From Vitalik Buterin” Achieved Retrieved February 2018

⁴⁸Fortune, “Ethereum is neutral, but I am not’: Russian-born Ethereum cofounder Vitalik Buterin blasts Putin for Ukraine invasion as crypto nose-dives” Achieved, Retrieved February 2022

⁴⁹Newsweek, “$20 Million of Crypto Donated to Ukraine Following Russian Invasion” Achieved Retrieved February 2022

Vitalik Buterin