Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has gone on a shitcoin selling spree. He traded nearly $700,000 worth of tokens that had already been gifted to him for Ether. As often on the crypto market, this sale had a negative effect on the price of the token.
What is the sale?
According to a report by Cointelegraph, a wallet belonging to Buterin unloaded 500 trillion SHIKOKU (SHIK) obtained by airdrop. Indeed, the event occurred on March 7 and allowed the wallet to cash in for 380.3 ETH ($595,448). Separately, it offloaded nearly 10 billion Cult DAO (CULT) for 58.1 ETH ($91,021) and 50 billion Mops (MOPS) for 1.25 ETH ($1,950). Thus, the low liquidity of the tokens coupled with this massive sale had a rather negative effect on their prices. Indeed, the prices of all these tokens have fallen sharply. SHIK tokens saw the biggest drop, at nearly 86%.
Recall that Buterin held 500 trillion SHIK, out of a total supply of 1 quadrillion. Having sold 50% of the total supply, the price was bound to fall.
Why did Buterin sell all his shitcoins?
Despite the tax issue, crypto industry players have criticized Buterin’s decision to carry out massive sales of his shitcoins. Especially since he knew the negative effect they would have on the prices of these tokens. Especially since in May 2021, he had carried out such an operation by selling tokens such as Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Dogelon Mars (ELON). Following this, prices fell by 40% and 90% respectively. Chances are he’ll get rid of those airdrops because of the tax implications. Remember that airdrops are subject to income tax in most countries.
Holding a huge amount of tokens seems to be a strategy Buterin likes. Already in 2018, he was accused of monopolizing 75% of the supply with another co-founder. He got rid of them and only has about 300 now. It’s well below the possessions of the biggest ethereum holders.
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