The Shiba Inu development team has called out Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin for overlooking SHIB’s significant contribution to the Crypto Relief charitable organization.
Buterin recently expressed gratitude toward Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) for a $10 million BNB donation supporting his biotech project aimed at combating airborne diseases. He also thanked Polygon CEO Sandeep Nailwal and Crypto Relief (now Blockchain for Impact) for their support of biomedical infrastructure in India and global research initiatives.
However, Buterin’s acknowledgments omitted any mention of Shiba Inu’s involvement, prompting criticism from the SHIB community.
SHIB Developer Points Out Missing Recognition
Kaal Dhairya, a lead developer within the Shiba Inu ecosystem, emphasized that Buterin ignored the billions of SHIB tokens initially donated to Crypto Relief during its early phase.
In April 2021, during India’s second COVID-19 wave, Nailwal launched the Crypto Relief Fund. Soon after, Buterin donated 50.6 trillion SHIB tokens, valued at about $1.2 billion at the time, from the 500 trillion SHIB tokens originally gifted to him by Shiba Inu’s pseudonymous founder, Ryoshi.
Buterin burned over 410 trillion SHIB by sending them to inaccessible addresses. The remaining tokens were distributed among various nonprofits, with Crypto Relief receiving a significant portion.
Community Seeks Formal Acknowledgment
Dhairya stressed that since Buterin’s SHIB donation supported crucial biomedical infrastructure and global research, proper recognition is warranted. The Shiba Inu group also views this as evidence of SHIB’s role in funding impactful charitable causes.
Efforts to gain Buterin’s attention continue, especially after he suggested that Dogecoin deserved to be the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization—a claim that disappointed many in the SHIB community.
Notably, Kusama—a SHIB community member—requested a brief meeting with Buterin to discuss SHIB’s potential and argue for its acknowledgment as a leading digital asset. However, Buterin has yet to respond.
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