Vitalik Buterin Donates $300,000 to Thai Zoo, Adopts Viral Pygmy Hippo Behind Moo Deng Meme Piece

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has pledged nearly $300,000 to Thailand’s Khao Kheow Open Zoo, taking on the role of adoptive father to Moo Deng, a pygmy hippopotamus who inspired the viral play MOODENG.

Buterin’s Christmas gift will be used to upgrade the zoo’s facilities and support its wildlife sponsorship program.

Crypto Meets Conservation

In a letter addressed to the director of Khao Kheow and shared on animal and community engagement. He thanked the zoo for welcoming him and highlighted Moo Deng’s unique role as Thailand’s cultural ambassador.

Buterin praised the efforts of the wildlife sanctuary and reiterated the importance of improving the habitat of the pygmy hippopotamus. He also recognized Thailand’s hospitality towards the Ethereum community, notably during Devcon SEA in Bangkok last November.

The 30-year-old said he would donate as much as 10 million baht, or about $300,000, in Moo Deng’s name, to be paid in two installments. The first contribution was made on December 26, with the date of the second being set later. Buterin also pledged an additional 88 ETH to ensure continued support for the zoo’s projects.

Earlier, the establishment posted on X expressing its appreciation for the Ethereum developer’s generosity, calling him “Moo Deng’s adoptive father.” He responded, sharing his enthusiasm for the role and quoting a popular line from the Star Trek series: “May they live long and prosper.” »

Market performance

Moo Deng, already a beloved symbol in Thailand, gained worldwide fame as the face of the play MOODENG. The token has attracted attention from the crypto community despite recent market fluctuations.

At the time of writing, it was trading at $0.2693, with a 24-hour trading volume of $179.7 million, representing a 50.3% increase in activity over on the eve.

While the token’s price fell 3.2% over the past 24 hours, it gained 6.1% over the past week, outperforming the broader crypto market, which had seen a decline of 1 .2% during this period.

Buterin previously liquidated over $1 million worth of meme tokens donated to him, including $10 billion worth of MOODENG, donating the proceeds to various charities.

Interestingly, he recently criticized the coin space, calling out the proliferation of celebrity-inspired tokens. He argued that it would be better if they had a public purpose aimed at promoting a specific cause or at least incorporated fun mechanics beyond commerce.