Vitalik Buterin transfers ETH to Coinbase again – Why?

• Vitalik Buterin transferred 600 ETH worth $1 million to the exchange in mid-August as well.
• Buterin has deposited 3,700 ETH worth $6.12 million to Coinbase, Bitstamp, Paxos since 17 September.

Ethereum [ETH] co-founder Vitalik Buterin was again in the news as he transferred 100 ETH tokens to the Coinbase [COIN] exchange.

Source: Etherscan

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Given ETH’s price at the time of writing, Buterin’s latest ETH transfer stood at $180,500. At press time, ETH was trading at $1,805—a rise of nearly 18% over a fortnight.

Source: ETH/USD, TradingView

Since Buterin’s token transfers have always generated a lot of noise, it was no different this time too.

A crypto enthusiast on X speculated that Buterin might use these funds to hold RATIO tokens.

hours ago, Vitalik Buterin deposited 100 $ETH ($181K) to #coinbase at $1810.
Let me breakdown what this means for you:

1. Coinbase is surely listing $RATIO after launch

2. Vitalik Buterin will bag hold $RATIO with these deposited funds.

Are you still sleeping on $RATIO?

NGMI pic.twitter.com/hPza83Dfwx

— CryptoDoc ❤️ Memecoin (@Cry3ptoDoc) November 1, 2023

This isn’t the first time the Ethereum co-founder has made a transfer to Coinbase. In mid-August, Buterin transferred 600 ETH worth $1 million to the exchange.

As for Coinbase, it was facing regulatory scrutiny in the US at the hands of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In early June, the regulator sued the exchange for allegedly violating securities laws. On Nasdaq, it was trading at $76.62.

Source: COIN, Nasdaq

So far, Buterin has deposited 3,700 ETH worth $6.12 million to Coinbase, Bitstamp, and Paxos since 17 September.

Source: Spotonchain

Transfers only for donations?

While we are yet to know the exact reason behind the latest transfer, there is a possibility of Buterin committing to another selloff. But, there is again the possibility of him making the transfer for a single-time sale only.

Buterin claimed last month that he hasn’t sold any of his ETH holdings for personal gain since 2018.

“It’s almost always me donating to some charity or nonprofit or other project, and the recipient selling because, well, they have to cover expenses.”

Read Ethereum’s [ETH] Price Prediction 2023-24

In April 2022, Buterin donated $5 million in ETH donations as humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

.@VitalikButerin donated almost $2.5M in $ETH to @_AidForUkraine 2 days ago, and didn't say a word! He's also donated $2.5M to @Unchainfund.

Thanks for your enormous help, Vitalik, and thank you for creating @ethereum! The #Ethereum community is ?? pic.twitter.com/HuvDcTM40e

— Aid For Ukraine ?? (@_AidForUkraine) April 6, 2022

It will be interesting to observe if the latest ETH transfer has any implications for the crypto market amid a bull run.