Wallets Linked to Vitalik Buterin Sell ETH

Vitalik Buterin is said to have transferred around $10 million worth of ETH to wallets linked to crypto exchanges, sparking speculation.

According to Spot On Chain, the wallet address (0xfE…03B2) identified by Arkham as belonging to Vitalik Buterin made a “take profit” transaction after receiving 3,800 ETH (around $10 million) from related wallets on August 9 and 30. This has sparked speculation about Buterin’s intentions.

Transaction history of wallets linked to Vitalik Buterin. Source: Arkham Intelligence

As of press time, Vitalik has sold a total of 760 ETH, earning $1.8 million, at an average selling price of $2,414 per coin. The most recent transaction was made on the afternoon of September 8.

Since 2015, Buterin’s ETH address has moved around 422,000 ETH, or $1.04 billion as of September 1. Arkham also said that over 840,000 ETH has been moved from the address in the past two years.

The large transactions have led to suspicions that Vitalik is selling ETH for profit, especially since Ethereum has risen more than 180% from its 2022 cycle low of $885. However, Buterin was quick to quash the speculation on August 31.

Vitalik confirmed that since 2018, he has not sold ETH or tokens from layer-2 projects he has invested in for personal gain. Instead, he mostly donates ETH to charities, non-profits, or projects he values. These organizations can then sell ETH to cover necessary fees. In mid-August, the Ethereum founder “cleared out” his memecoin stash and donated over $500,000 to an animal charity.

Buterin also stated that he has no intention of investing in other layer-2 projects or tokens in the near future. He will continue to support projects through donations, supporting what he believes to be valuable, especially those that are undervalued in the ecosystem.

As of the time of writing, wallet addresses associated with Vitalik Buterin own over $550 million in crypto assets, with 99.9% in ETH, the rest in other ERC-20 tokens. This figure has dropped by more than $300 million in the past two months as ETH prices have plummeted, wiping out all of the gains made in 2024.

Also in August, the Ethereum Foundation transferred 35,000 ETH (more than $94 million) to crypto exchanges, most likely to sell to cover operating expenses. Many people have expressed dissatisfaction with the Ethereum management organization's lack of transparency in these asset transfers, as it has been mentioned many times in the past. Under pressure from the community, the Foundation was forced to release preliminary information and promised to provide a full financial report in the near future.

ETH prices have dropped more than 11% in the past month and are currently trading around $2,298.

In addition, Lookonchain also discovered that the vitalik.eth wallet transferred 2.1 million STRK ($858,700) to a new address on September 5. Vitalik Buterin, an early investor in Starknet, received $2.1 million in STRK over two token unlocks.

Meanwhile, Ethereum whales are growing impatient with ETH’s price prospects, as evidenced by the Metalpha wallet address sending over $54 million in Ethereum to Binance in recent days.