How Effective Altruists Influenced Vitalik Buterin to donate $1 Billion in Crypto Meme Coins

This may be the first in a sequence of posts sharing little-known interesting stories from the history of Effective Altruism.

In 2021, Effective Altruists played a role in encouraging Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, to liquidate and donate a substantial portion of his meme coin holdings, valued at billions, to high-impact causes such as COVID-19 relief efforts in India. Here's a chronological breakdown of the what worked and the individuals involved. I have no connection to any of the people involved.

🗓️ Late April to Early May 2021

• Background: Vitalik Buterin had been gifted large quantities of meme tokens like SHIB and AKITA, totaling approximately $13 billion at their peak.
• These tokens were sent by their creators to Vitalik's public wallet as a publicity stunt, assuming he would never cash them out.

🗓️ May 7-10, 2021

• In an Effective Altruism (EA) Facebook group, Greg Colbourn noticed this massive holding and highlighted the high expected value (EV) of reaching out to Vitalik to suggest donating a portion.

• Proposal by Greg Colbourn:

  "Looks pretty high EV to Tweet/otherwise contact him suggesting he cashes out ~ a billion dollars for EA causes."

• Source Post Discussion Thread: EA Discussion Archive

🗓️ May 10-12, 2021

• Luke Cockerham suggested avoiding public tweets to prevent market participants from anticipating a sell-off.

  "Tweeting him would be a poor way to get his attention without alerting other market participants that there might become a huge seller in the marketplace."

• Contact Suggestions:
  • RocketReach Email Profile: Vitalik Buterin Email Contact
  • Luke noted Vitalik's father was active on Facebook.
• Giego Caleiro attempted to reach Vitalik's father. His interpretation was that the message would reach Vitalik indirectly despite his father’s non-committal response.

🗓️ May 12-13, 2021

• Vitalik began liquidating significant portions of his meme coin holdings and donating the proceeds.
• Breakdown of Donations (via Hudson Jameson on Twitter):
  • 13,292 ETH to GiveWell
  • 1,050 ETH to Machine Intelligence Research Institute (MIRI)
  • 500 ETH to Charter Cities Institute
  • $1 Billion in SHIB to CryptoRelief (COVID Relief Fund India)
• Hudson Jameson's Summary on Twitter: Hudson Jameson Tweet

🗓️ May 13, 2021: Community Reactions and Reflection

• William Eden: "This was the best possible use of a shitcoin airdrop. Vitalik absolutely rocks."
• Ezra Malafaia: Praised members of the community for taking bold action.

• Greg Colbourn:

  "I'm not sure if we can claim credit, but we might well have had some influence."

🗓️ Mid-May 2021

• Following this success, EA-aligned charities prioritized setting up multi-signature Ethereum wallets to handle future donations more effectively.
• ALLFED Wallet Example: Gnosis Safe Wallet for ERC-20 Donations

🗓️ May 14-20, 2021: Media Coverage Picks Up

• Major media outlets began covering the story:
  • Vox Article: The World of Crypto Philanthropy is About to Get Weird
  • Celebrity Net Worth: Vitalik Buterin's $14 Billion Meme Coin Fortune

🗓️ Late May 2021: Reflecting on Success and Future Plans

• Greg Colbourn: Emphasized the need for EA charities to maintain multisig ETH wallets for efficient handling of large-scale crypto donations.
• CEEALAR Multisig Wallet Setup: CEEALAR Fundraising Page