On Thursday, 40,000 Ethereum (ETH) transfers took place on the Blockchain. What makes this event interesting is the name behind the transfer. Allegedly, Ethereum inventor Vitalik Buterin made this massive ETH transfer. So, the community thought, “What’s behind this process?” came the question.
Did Vitalik Buterin make the ETH transfer?
On Thursday, 40,000 ETH transfers were made on the Ethereum Blockchain. A transaction of this amount naturally attracted attention. What makes the process more interesting is the Vitalik Buterin detail. Because the transfer was made from a wallet created by Vitalik Buterin.
A multi-signature Ethereum wallet created by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently transferred approximately 40,000 ETH worth $47.7 million to an unidentified address. Holders made a similar transfer of 30,000 ETH to the same unidentified wallet on May 16. The last transaction marks the first ETH outflow from the wallet address in over six months.
Chinese Blockchain reporter Colin Wu highlighted the latest development on Twitter. “According to Etherscan, 40,000 ETH was transferred from the multisig address 0x22…3a9d created by Vitalik Buterin to 0xD04…8fd7,” Wu shared in a tweet on Thursday.
According to Etherscan, 40,000 ETH was transferred from the multisig address 0x22…3a9d created by Vitalik Buterin to 0xD04…8fd7.
0x22 holds about 250,000 ETH, worth nearly $300 million. 0xD04 holds 64,301 ETH, about $76.5 million. https://t.co/y5uHD1ZDVj
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) November 24, 2022
Following the debut, the multisig wallet with the Vb 3 nametag, indicating a connection with Vitalik Buterin, currently holds 250,000 ETH worth $298.5 million. This makes it the 25th largest ETH holder at the time of reporting. A closer look at the wallet’s on-chain activities reveals that its holders made a similar transfer to the same unidentified wallet address on May 16 amid the panic triggered by the Terra crash. The previous transaction involved the transfer of 30,000 ETH to the same wallet address. The unidentified wallet currently holds 64,301 ETH balances worth $76.7 million. It is worth noting that this wallet only receives transfers from the Vb 3 address.
What’s behind the transfers?
The timing of this latest on-chain move from the address linked to Vitalik Buterin also drew attention. Because it came after allegations emerged that Buterin exchanged 3,000 ETH for USDC in Uniswap V3. As such, it received mixed reactions from the community given the timing of the transaction.
Despite this, a prominent Ethereum community member named Evan Van Ness gave in to refute the allegations that Buterin was involved in the sale. However, this response came 24 hours after the reports. According to Evan, Buterin said that the address in question did not belong to him. Vitalik Buterin, meanwhile, never spoke on the subject formally. This latest transfer triggered comments from community members. Although it does not take the form of a sale, the reason behind the exit has question marks. There are also questions about the purpose of the anonymous recipient wallet, which transferred 5,700 ETH 12 days ago.
