Ethereum's co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, has sold $1.6 million worth of memecoins that were sent to him, converting them into Ether to support charitable causes. Blockchain analytics firm Spot On Chain reported that the sale included $982,800 worth of Moo Deng (MOODENG), $231,000 of Monsterra (MSTR), and $183,000 of Ethereum Is Good (EBULL).

Buterin also sold smaller amounts of other memecoins, including Popcat (POPCAT), Fwog (FWOG), and Vitalek Buteren (VITALIK). Over the past nine days, he has converted a total of $2.78 million worth of memecoins into Ether, of which $884,000 has already been donated to various charities.

Buterin has often encouraged memecoin creators to donate directly, instead of sending tokens to him. On October 7, he announced on X (formerly Twitter) that he would be donating all the memecoins he received to a charity focused on anti-airborne-disease technology.

In August, Buterin donated all the animal-themed memecoins he had collected over the previous year to Effective Altruism Funds' Animal Welfare Fund. More charitable contributions may be forthcoming, as his portfolio still holds $2.4 million in MOODENG tokens, alongside smaller holdings in other tokens.

Buterin continues to advocate for memecoins as a way to support public projects and assist people in low-income countries, though he criticizes celebrity-endorsed tokens that benefit only celebrities and early investors.

Buterin’s contributions to the Ethereum ecosystem have even led to discussions about him being a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for 2024, according to economists Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok.