Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum and one of the largest holders of the asset has for some time now been suspected to be secretly dumping Ethereum assets.
Series of On chain transitions by Wallets generally believed to be linked to Buterin have fueled these suspicions although the Ethereum Co-Founder has repeatedly said that he has never seemed to profit off Ethereum.
Vitalik Buterin has earlier said that he has not sold ETH for personal profits since 2018 and these recent flurries of transactions are either for the Ethereum ecosystem or to fund philanthropic causes.
On Sept. 30, Spot on Chain an onchain analytics tracker reported a transfer of 649 ETH ($1.72 million to cryptic exchange Paxos.
The transaction marked the end of a series of sales by the Wallet in question which was funded by Vitalik Buterin
The Wallet which can be Identified by “0x556,” received 1,300 ETH ($3.21 million) on Sept. 19 from “0xd04”, an Ethereum wallet said to be controlled by Vitalik Buterin. This “0xd04” wallet was funded by Vitalik in 2022 when he transferred 70,000 ETH.
The exchange of transactions between these two wallets didn’t start today. According to on-chain data, “0xd04” had previously sent 2,000 ETH, then valued at $5.265 million on September 2023. This transfer was preceded by a transfer of 999 ETH valued at $2.63 million the same month.
Meanwhile, another transfer of 1701 ETH valued at $4.47 million was made the month before, bringing the total ether received to date to 5,999 ETH.
Sell Pressure Fears
The speculations on whether Vitalik Buterin is secretly dumping Ethereum all point to the potential effect on the asset if that is true. The selling pressure that could hit the asset should the allegations be confirmed can drive down the price of the asset seriously.
The concerns intensified earlier this month as another wallet which received 3,800 ETH from Buterin in August, was seen offloading the funds across multiple transfers.
However, Vitalik Buterin clarified the transaction saying that they were carried out by a Bio defense group he funds.
What to Know
- Besides the speculation on Vitalik Buterin dumping Ethereum, he is also heavily criticized for having too much control over the asset. His grip on the assets has been likened to a dictatorship given how he personally drives the policy direction of the asset.
- Ethererm is currently exchanging hands for $2,606 down by 46.6% from its all-time high. The asset has performed the worst among the top 5 biggest assets in the crypto industry.