Vitalik Buterin halts all investment in Layer-2 projects to donate all profits to Ethereum community

Founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin just swore to halt all profitable investments in Layer 2-projects to invest all his profits in either charitable works or it would be invested to profit the Ethereum community.

He is doing this in his last ditch effort to prove to his fans his commitment to put the Ethereum community before his own company profits.

This follows his previous saga when he was called out by the community for dumping $10 million worth of Ethereum, which caused many to speculate that he could be trying to cash out before a potential downturn in the market.

In his previous X post, Buterin tweeted that all his profits he has generated since 2018 from Ethereum have been used to support projects that he thinks are valuable, otherwise, the money would be donated for a broader charitable purpose.

While there are many who have criticised his actions, there are also many other supporters who have come up to defend Buterin. In one of his tweets, one of his fans argued that it would be alright for Buterin to invest in projects for profit if the money is used to invest in his altruistic endeavors.

Kelvin Santos, the co-founder and CEO of Quiver Trade concur with Buterin's supporters, claiming that investing in projects with positive outcomes could be justified if all the profit was donated for good causes.

But Buterin delved deeper into the true motive behind his investments. Buterin said that his philanthropy goes beyond just dumping money on projects that he believes in. Rather, he carefully chooses companies to fund based on their compatibility with Ethereum's mission, and his partnership would also require the recipient to be committed to work in ways that would benefit either Ethereum or humanity as a whole.

Buterin truly believes that only this kind of commitment could have a more powerful and longer-term impact on the community compared to personal investment returns.

Desperate measures to prove his innocence

But what does this have to do with Buterin cutting all his ties with Layer-2 or token projects? I think this is a desperate move by Buterin to prove his innocence. But cutting all his investment in Layer-2 and token projects, critics can no longer accuse him of trying to manipulate the protocol for his own personal gain, which could help him to build trust within the community.

Just a PR move or a real heart of Gold?

While there are many ways of speculating Buterin's true intentions, we cannot deny that he has really helped and invested in many projects in recent years. Just a few months ago, Vitalik Buterin joined as an angel investor of a project called MegaETH.

Buterin also invested in other projects like StarkNet, Aztec Network, Kakarot and more.

But there is also a lot of ambiguity in the timing and the value of his recent sale. The time of the sale was made during a time when cryptocurrency was trading 180% higher compared to its cycle low in 2022. This has made many curious if Buterin could have received insider news that has helped him to anticipate the rise.

Another point of contention was also the amount of money that was made in the transaction. In the month itself, a total of $10 worth of Ethereum was sold, making many to speculate if he was trying to cash out before a potential downturn in the market.

For instance, in November 2021, the Ethereum Foundation transferred 20,000 ETH to Kraken, and the transfer occurred just before Ether price peaked, followed by an 85% correction in its price, indicating that the Ethereum Foundation's sales of its Ether holdings could have contributed to the ETH market declines.

But there are also many fans who praise Buterin for his transparency and honesty regarding their queries. The way that he explained his mantra and reason behind his investment and the way he hopes to achieve his goal is making it very hard for fans not to support him.

I think that fact that he has cut off all investment in Layer-2 project has also moved a lot of people as it really shows his dedication and commitment to his mission to help grow and improve the Ethereum world.

His track record and all the projects that he has aided throughout the years are also a living testimony of his mission to help improve the Ethereum world. So I think there are also plenty of reasons to trust that Buterin's heart is in the right place and he is really out to help the community and not just selling it for profit..