Vitalik Buterin sold 5,000 Dohrnii (DHN) tokens, which he received for free from Dohrnii Labs, for $124,000, leading to a 50% drop in the token’s value. The Ethereum co-founder has repeatedly advised projects to refrain from sending him tokens, urging them to donate directly to charity instead.
DHN’s Price Drops by 50%
According to a post from blockchain tracking platform Spot On Chain, on March 18, Buterin sold 5,000 DHN for 65 ETH, approximately $124,000. This was part of 10,000 DHN tokens sent to him by the Dohrnii Labs Treasury on January 29. The Russian-born programmer received these coins for free, a tactic often used by projects to gain recognition by distributing assets to prominent figures in the crypto community. The sale on Tuesday led to a rapid decline in DHN’s value, with prices falling from $38.505 to as low as $20.699. The token has since recovered, rising to $43.94 before settling at $39.75. Despite a weekly decline of 11%, it has seen an astonishing increase of 3,400,535.6% over the past 12 months, according to CoinGecko. Etherscan data indicates that Buterin still retains the remaining 5,000 tokens, now valued at nearly $190,000. DHN is the native cryptocurrency of the Dohrnii ecosystem, a crypto education platform on the Ethereum network. In response to the market impact, Dohrnii Labs has offered to arrange an over-the-counter sale of the remaining holdings to stabilize the price.
Crypto Projects to Donate Directly to Charity
Buterin has consistently advised against sending him tokens, advocating for direct charitable donations instead. He has previously stressed that digital assets sent to him are ultimately donated to charitable causes. In August 2024, he donated $530,000 worth of animal-themed meme coins to the Effective Altruism Funds’ Welfare Fund. Later that year, in October, he liquidated over $1 million in such assets, donating the proceeds to various non-profits. In 2023, speculation emerged regarding Buterin selling large amounts of ETH and other digital assets. However, he denied these claims, stating that any transfers from his wallets were donations to charitable organizations, non-profits, and blockchain-related projects. Most recently, Buterin reiterated his stance, suggesting that initiatives establish decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) to enable community involvement in the donation process. He expressed that the best outcome for meme coins is when they positively impact the world and showed appreciation for instances where this happens.
