Vitalik Buterin’s associated Ethereum wallet conducted a large transaction today, divesting a range of meme coins and Tether’s USDT for ETH.

Blockchain data reveals that developers sent these unsolicited meme tokens to Buterin’s wallet throughout the past year.

Why Did Buterin Offload Over $300,000 in Meme Coins?

On October 5, Buterin sold four different tokens, netting 140.67 ETH, worth approximately $341,000. Blockchain analysis platform Lookonchain reported that Buterin sold 11.76 billion Moodeng tokens for 21 ETH (around $51,000) and 70.72 million Neiro for $72,400.

The other assets he sold included 7.8 million Degen for 25 ETH (around $61,000) and 16 billion Kabosu tokens for 22.94 ETH (approximately $56,000). Additionally, Buterin converted his entire USDT balance of 101,000 USDT into 41.69 ETH.

After these sales, another crypto analytical platform, SpotOnChain, noted that Buterin sent 100 ETH (approximately $242,000) to the “Free Alexey & Roman” campaign. This initiative supports the legal defense of Tornado Cash developers Alexey Pertsev and Roman Storm.

Read more: 7 Hot Meme Coins and Altcoins that are Trending in 2024

It is unclear if the donated funds came from his recent token sales or from other sources. Nevertheless, the move aligns with Buterin’s ongoing practice of converting meme coin holdings into charitable contributions.

Earlier this year, he sold a vast amount of animal meme tokens that were sent to him and donated $532,000 worth of ETH to the Animal Welfare Fund under the Effective Altruism initiative.

Interestingly, one of the tokens the Ethereum co-founder sold recently requested that he donate the proceeds to the same cause.

“Hey, Vitalik Buterin — can we ask you for a favor? We know what you did for NEIRO when you sold. Now that you sold your ITO, could you make the same donation to the Animal Welfare Fund on behalf of ITO?,” ITO wrote on X.

Meanwhile, the Ethereum co-founder has publicly stated his disapproval of receiving unsolicited tokens. While he appreciates contributing to charitable causes, he prefers that meme coin creators allocate tokens directly to charities.

Read more: Who Is Vitalik Buterin? An In-Depth Look at Ethereum’s Co-Founder

Buterin also addressed this issue in a blog post, encouraging the crypto community to design meme coins with practical uses, such as charity fundraising, rather than as speculative assets.

Heading into October and Q4, the markets have already begun recovering, bringing gains to many crypto assets, with some altcoins even establishing new all-time highs.

BeInCrypto has analyzed the top three best-performing altcoins of the last seven days, which include Solana meme coin POPCAT, which formed a new ATH this week.

FTX Token (FTT)

FTX’s native token, FTT, surprised the market by outperforming every major altcoin in the top 100 cryptocurrencies. FTT surged by 95% over the week and is currently trading at $2.72. This dramatic rise has caught the attention of both traders and investors alike.

The rally was primarily driven by rumors surrounding the beginning of repayment to creditors. With the hearing for the distribution plan scheduled for October 7, the bullish sentiment is expected to continue, potentially fueling further price increase.

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If the momentum holds, FTT could rise to $2.98. However, the token could see a drawdown to $2.54 or even $2.20 if it wanes, making investors cautious of potential risks.

Popcat (POPCAT)

POPCAT price reached a new all-time high this week, soaring by 31% in the last 24 hours. This Solana-based meme coin broke through the $1.00 resistance, setting a new ATH at $1.29 after struggling to breach that level throughout the week.

The catalyst for this sudden rally remains unclear, but if POPCAT holders avoid selling, the coin could continue its upward trajectory. This could result in the formation of a new ATH, further boosting market sentiment.

However, if profit-taking ensues, it may halt the bullish momentum. A drop to $1.00 could follow, and losing this key support level would invalidate the current bullish outlook.

Wormhole (W)

Wormhole’s price may not have seen explosive gains like other tokens, but it still impressed with a 14.8% rise. Currently trading at $0.34, the altcoin has gained the attention of its investors.

Wormhole nearly reached an intra-week high of $0.42 but fell back under the $0.35 resistance. This barrier has been intact since mid-July, and breaching it could lead to a further rise toward the $0.42 mark.

Read more: 10 Best Altcoin Exchanges In 2024

Testing $0.42 as resistance would set a near four-month high. However, if Wormhole fails to break $0.35, it may remain in consolidation between $0.28 and $0.35, invalidating the bullish outlook.

On October 4, US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded their first inflow of the month, rebounding from outflows totaling $400 million in the initial three trading days.

This uptick coincides with the release of a significant upgrade to Bitcoin Core, the open-source software that underpins the leading cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin ETF Sees First Inflow in October

According to SoSoValue data, Bitwise’s Bitcoin ETF (BITB) led the inflows with a positive net flow of $15.3 million, followed by Fidelity’s FBTC with $13.6 million. Ark 21Shares’ ARKB and VanEck’s HODL each saw inflows of $5.3 million.

In contrast, Grayscale’s GBTC reported outflows of $13.9 million. Other issuers — such as BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and Franklin Templeton Bitcoin ETF (EZBC) — recorded no inflows during this period. Meanwhile, IBIT remains the leading Bitcoin ETF in the market, boasting over $21 billion in cumulative net inflows.

Read more: How To Trade a Bitcoin ETF: A Step-by-Step Approach

This development comes after a turbulent start to October for Bitcoin. The top asset’s price briefly fell below $60,000 during the week but recovered to around $62,000 amid geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

Despite the volatility, market observers remain optimistic about Bitcoin’s outlook for the fourth quarter. The analysts cite the top asset’s strong macroeconomic support and rising institutional investments as reasons for their bullishness.

“When you zoom into Bitcoin price seasonality by weeks instead of months, you can see that Uptober starts on the second week of October & it’s the strongest period of the year. We are in week 40. The rocket takes off on week 41, next week, if the pattern holds,” crypto analyst Gally Sama wrote.

Network Undergoes Key Core Update

On October 5, Jameson Lopp, co-founder of the self-custody solution Casa, announced the launch of Bitcoin Core version 28.0. This version brings significant security enhancements and functionality improvements. It also fixes bugs and introduces better privacy features for users.

The release follows a warning last month from Bitcoin developers about a high-risk vulnerability that affected one in six Bitcoin nodes. This flaw allowed malicious actors to carry out denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, overloading nodes with excessive data requests and risking system crashes.

Read more: Bitcoin (BTC) Price Prediction 2024/2025/2030

Bitcoin Core 28.0 addresses these issues and adds further security protections. A key addition is support for reproducible builds, enabling advanced users to compile identical binaries directly from the Bitcoin Core website. This measure increases transparency and trust within the Bitcoin community.

Node operators upgrading to version 28.0 should exit their current software version and back up their files before installing.