Vitalik Buterin donated after the Polygon co-founder organized a charity drive to help alleviate COVID-19 amid India’s second wave.
Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin has contributed 100 Ether (ETH) and 100 Maker (MKR) tokens to a COVID-19 relief fund as the country faces the second wave of the virus. Buterin contributed to a “crypto-COVID” relief fund established at the cryptocurrency custody platform called Gnosis Safe.
A series of Public transactions on the Ethereum blockchain had shown two transactions from one of Buterin’s wallets on April 24. Ethereum’s creator sent 100 ETH and 100 MKR to the relief fund, representing dollar values of $ 220,000 and $ 400,000, respectively.
The donation drive’s organization goes by Polygon (MATIC) co-founder Sandeep Nailwal. On April 24, Nailwal’s Twitter account exploded after he raised a rallying cry to help the COVID-19 situation in India. The Polygon co-founder tweeted:
“I cannot bear this anymore. I am going to carry out a Covid relief campaign for what is happening in India. You need help from the global crypto community. I will take full responsibility for transparency, use of funds, and regulatory compliance if you want to donate.”
A Google Form Aimed at Finding Potential Donors
Nailwal then set up a Google form aimed at potential donors and asked for help from India’s largest crypto exchanges and institutions, such as WazirX, CoinDCX, and Bitbns.
Concerns started to rise when Nailwal revealed that he had found a bit of resistance from people who wanted to donate but were concerned about regulatory obstacles. Nailwal later said that he had been receiving assistance from India’s leading CPAs, who had agreed to take over the campaign’s regulations and proper audits.
“Arguably, India’s top crypto CA @Vacpad has agreed to take the lead on the regulatory and auditing side for this campaign. Support is pouring in from everywhere. The founders of Indian Crypto are reaching out personally to help. The next step is to deploy the funds in the group. People need help RIGHT NOW,” Nailwal tweeted.
The second wave of COVID-19 in India might peak in the third week of May. The Indian government recently removed all customs duties on essential relief materials, especially items related to the storage and deployment of oxygen.
Buterin and His Efforts to Combat the Network’s Rising Transaction Fees
Ethereum developers recently proposed to build a network change called EIP-1559, which aimed at combating the network’s rising transaction fees. It would take effect in July this year and intends to send a portion of each transaction fee to the Ethereum network itself. The Ether allocated in this way would burn down, reducing the number of coins in circulation.
This change would also apply a considerable reduction to the number of rewards going to network miners, prompting some to protest the move. Since then, a group of participants has started advocating for a demonstrative takeover of the network, representing a threat to its security.
The group does not appear to intend to topple Ethereum, insisting that they only wished to demonstrate the viability of such an attack.
By: Jenson Nuñez
