Vitalik Buterin and Shiba Inu: a reminder on crypto values

Let’s talk seriously. Crypto is a solution to many problems related to centralized authorities, whether they are banks with ever increasing power on people’s personal finances or Silicon Valley companies keeping tons of people’s data to themselves. So while enthusiastic billionaires amuse themselves with jokecoins like Doge, this really should not influence the cryptos with a real purpose. Luckily there are people to remind us of that.

Last week Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, has been given the new “Doge-killer” coin called Shiba Inu (SHIB) in an apparent marketing stunt by the coin’s creators – a gift that was worth over $8 Bn at one point. These SHIB, together with some other gifted shitcoins, were used in the smartest way. A part of them (~$1.2 Bn) was donated to the India Covid Relief Fund, some of them to Gitcoin, Ethereum-base fundraising platform, 10% of the rest will also go to a Covid charity, while the 90% … were simply burned.

Vitalik saying “I don’t *want* to be a locus of power of that kind” is a strong message to the community, elegantly reaffirming crypto values in contrast to Elon Musk’s market manipulations.