It’s been four years since Vitalik Buterin, the visionary co-founder of Ethereum, stunned both the crypto world and global media by donating over $1 billion worth of cryptocurrency to India’s COVID-19 relief and other charities. And in 2025, the impact of that bold, unconventional act still echoes across both the blockchain and humanitarian landscapes.

The 2021 Donation That Redefined Giving

On May 12, 2021, while the world was still battling the devastating second wave of COVID-19 in India, Vitalik Buterin took an unprecedented step. He transferred over $1 billion in cryptocurrency — primarily in Shiba Inu (SHIB) tokens — to the India COVID-Crypto Relief Fund, a grassroots effort spearheaded by entrepreneur Sandeep Nailwal.

The donation also included contributions to other charities working on pandemic relief, global health, and scientific research.

At the time, it was the largest single crypto donation in history.

Why It Shocked the World

Buterin’s wallet had been “gifted” massive amounts of SHIB and other meme tokens by their creators — a marketing strategy aimed at legitimizing their coins. Instead of ignoring or burning them (as many expected), Vitalik flipped the script. He donated them.

The Ethereum co-founder, already revered for his intellect, suddenly became a symbol of purpose-driven crypto culture —…