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Ethereum cofounder Vitalik Buterin sparked a flurry of online speculation on Monday after sending 600 Ether, about $1 million worth, to the crypto exchange Coinbase.
The 29-year-old sent the funds from his publicly labeled address, vitalik.eth, according to Etherscan. The transfer comes as Ether has dropped more than 10% over the past week. On Monday, it was trading down about 0.35%, near $1,600.
X, formerly Twitter, was filled with theories regarding Buterin’s transfer, with some saying he was paying off a debt while others were claiming that he was looking to dump the coin before it fell further.
Vitalik for real dumping while everyone else staked their #Eth for the next 10 years. ????#Ethererum #Dump #Crypto #Staking #investing
— Anon Vee (@Anon43Vee) August 21, 2023
Some also speculated the transfer may have something to do with Coinbase’s new layer-2 blockchain, Base, which is built on top of the Ethereum blockchain. The network officially launched earlier this month, and Coinbase has tried to attract users and developers through a multi-week “Onchain Summer” Web3 festival that includes brand partnerships, NFT mints, and 100 Ether in grants designated for developers seeking to build on the chain.
Gm!
We all know what happens next when @VitalikButerin starts to move $eth around
Market tops every. Single. Time.
Or maybe he’s just excited to use the $base layer ????????#crypto #bitcoin https://t.co/DXhZfybNgb
— Marty (@martyluko) August 21, 2023
Still, several people pointed out that Buterin’s transfer to Coinbase is a confidence setback for Ether, which has taken a hit in the past couple weeks as investors have fled to other asset classes.
Despite what would seem to many investors as a large transfer, some pointed out that Buterin still holds about $6.5 million worth of Ether in the vitalik.eth wallet.
