Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has become a shitcoin seller, exchanging nearly $700,000 worth of tokens previously sent to him for Ether (ETH).
According to Etherscan, on March 7, Buterin’s wallet released 500 trillion SHIKOKU (SHIK) for 380.3 ETH ($595,448), nearly 10 billion Cult DAO (CULT) for 58.1 ETH ($91,021), and 50 billion Mops (MOPS ) 1.25 ETH ($1,950).
Due to the low liquidity of the token, the sale has a large impact on the price. The biggest drop in the price of the token was SHIK, which recorded an 86% drop after Buterin’s sale according to CoinMarketCap data.
#PeckShieldAlert $SHIK (SHIKOKU) has fallen -95.8%
Addresses labeled Vitalik Buterin have spent ~5T $SHIKand got ~164 $ETH (~260k) and transferred 214 $ETH ($337k) for EthDevhttps://t.co/Uw6TA1RDKP pic.twitter.com/FuIbgGgrdA— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) March 7, 2023
The total circulating supply of SHIK is 1 quadrillion, 500 trillion before Buterin’s capture represents 50% of the current supply.
In May 2021, the co-founder of Ethereum started selling similar offload tokens such as Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Dogelon Mars (ELON) which caused prices to drop by 40% and 90% respectively.
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While some in the cryptocurrency community together frustrated in Buterin’s decision to sell considering the outsized effect already on the token, others suggested it was motivated by the tax implications of receiving airdrops, which are subject to income tax in most countries.
It seems like a strange move, they are more aware of the tank price and liquidity. My only guess is that the accountant warned that this token will count as income on his tax sheet. Selling to cover costs
— SecureZero (@securezero) March 7, 2023
Buterin confirmed that he had the wallet in 2018 tweet after being accused of hoarding 75% of the Ether supply with fellow Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin during the pre-mining token sale.