Vitalik Buterin Donates $292,230 to Thailand’s Khao Kheow Open Zoo
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has donated 10 million Thai baht (approximately $292,230) to Thailand's Khao Kheow Open Zoo. The funds will support zoo operations, a wildlife sponsorship program, and a new exhibit for Moo Deng, a pygmy hippopotamus linked to the MOODENG memecoin. Buterin has also adopted Moo Deng for two years.
The donation, as announced by the zoo administrator, will be made in two installments, with the first set at $5 million baht today. The date for the second installment will be announced later, no later than December 26, 2024.
In a letter shared by the zoo, Buterin expressed gratitude to the Thai community for their hospitality during his recent visit and acknowledged their support of Ethereum events in November, including the Devcon SEA conference in Bangkok.
MOODENG Token Surges
Buterin's contribution led to a surge in the MOODENG meme coin, which doubled in price within two hours of the announcement. The token currently stabilizes at $0.00021, up over 66% daily. Trading volume increased by 350%, reaching $24.7 million.
Launched on September 11 via Pump.fun, MOODENG honors the pygmy hippo known for her personality. It has gained multiple exchange listings, including on Binance Futures. Since its launch, MOODENG has risen 4,444% to its current valuation.
The token's market capitalization increased by 60% in the last 24 hours, now at $85.5 million, according to CoinMarketCap. It reached an all-time high of $0.00043 on November 20 during a crypto market rally.
This is not Buterin’s first donation; in October, he donated 10 billion MOODENG tokens to the biotech charity Kanro for anti-airborne disease research. He retained 40 billion MOODENG tokens afterward and stated that any meme coins sent to his wallet would be redirected to charitable causes. Buterin also encouraged developers to create decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) for community control over token donations.
Meanwhile, the overall memecoin market has dropped 4% in market capitalization over the past 24 hours, now at $97 billion. This decline aligns with a broader market downturn, with Bitcoin falling from $108,268 to a low of $92,000 and currently trading around $96,133, down approximately 2.5% in the last 24 hours.