Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, recently made headlines with a substantial cryptocurrency transfer. On October 16, a transaction from Buterin’s wallet, known as “Vitalik.eth,” involved the transfer of $14.9 million worth of USD Coin (USDC) to the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange.
Blockchain Sleuths Uncover the Transaction
Blockchain experts and analysts quickly spotted this noteworthy transaction. PeckShield, a blockchain analytics firm, reported on the transfer on October 17, shedding light on the movement of funds from Vitalik Buterin to Gemini.
#PeckShieldAlert #vitalik.eth haas transferred ~15M $USDC (Multisig Contract 0xf207…D5a3) to #Gemini pic.twitter.com/6FZGKLKg9Z
— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) October 17, 2023
The transaction, independently confirmed by Cointelegraph through Etherscan, revealed that Vitalik Buterin initially received the sum of 14.93 million USDC from Kanro, a charity organization associated with him, on October 14.
Additional Transactions
Further analysis conducted by crypto data provider Lookonchain unveiled another significant transaction by Buterin. Just three days before the transfer to Gemini, Buterin sent nearly $500,000 to Coinbase.
vitalik.eth received 14.93M $USDC from #Kanro 4 days ago and then deposited it into #Gemini yesterday before the first surge of $BTC.#Vitalik also deposited 500K $USDC into #Coinbase 2 days ago.
What did he do with the $USDC?https://t.co/o3u5JjjapUhttps://t.co/Z69WG0xuNP pic.twitter.com/dwTt7tzHp8
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) October 17, 2023
The news of these transactions had a measured impact on the cryptocurrency market. The price of Ethereum‘s native currency, Ether, remained relatively stable, experiencing only a minor 0.68% decrease in the four hours following the news, according to Coingecko price data.
Continuation of ETH Deposits
The price of Ether (ETH) held flat following the news of the transfer. Source: CoinGecko
This recent transaction by Vitalik Buterin follows a series of Ethereum deposits made to centralized exchanges over the past few months. In September alone, Buterin’s wallet recorded total transfers exceeding $3.9 million. Notably, on September 24, Buterin initiated a transfer of 400 ETH (equivalent to $600,000 at the time) to Coinbase. This transaction pattern suggests an ongoing shift of assets by the Ethereum co-founder.
