- Shiba Inu launched on August 1, 2020, with half its total supply sent to Vitalik Buterin.
- Buterin donated 50 trillion SHIB tokens, valued at $1.2 billion, to India’s COVID-19 relief fund in May 2021.
- He burned 410.24 trillion SHIB tokens, removing $6.7 billion worth from circulation permanently.
- Buterin currently holds 45 trillion SHIB tokens, now worth $543.6 million.
- He has stated he will not sell the remaining SHIB tokens and may donate or burn them in the future.
On August 1, 2020, Shiba Inu launched on the Ethereum blockchain. The project’s founder, Ryoshi, sent half of the total SHIB token supply—about 505 trillion tokens—to Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum. This move made Buterin the largest outside holder of SHIB, while the remaining 549 trillion tokens remained available for public trading.
In May 2021, during the global COVID-19 pandemic, Buterin took action with his holdings. He donated 50 trillion SHIB tokens, then valued at $1.2 billion, to India’s COVID-19 relief fund. Additionally, he sent 410.24 trillion SHIB tokens, worth around $6.7 billion at the time, to a “dead wallet,” a technical term for an unreachable blockchain address used to permanently remove (or “burn”) tokens from circulation.
After these major transactions, Buterin’s SHIB balance stands at 45 trillion tokens. According to the source, their value has dropped to $543.6 million as SHIB trades near $0.00001. The report confirms he holds the tokens without plans to sell, stating, “Most likely, he would either donate it to other humanitarian causes or eventually burn it in the future.”
The original donation brought global attention to both Shiba Inu and the scale of cryptocurrency donations in humanitarian relief. The burning of tokens significantly reduced the total supply, affecting the token’s overall distribution.
The price of SHIB has declined considerably since these events, now approaching a price that may drop another decimal place. According to available sources, no public plans have been revealed regarding the fate of the remaining tokens. For additional details, the original token transfer can be viewed here.
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