Vitalik Buterin Donates to Thai Wildlife Charity on Behalf of ETH Community
2024-12-26
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Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, has made a donation of 10 million baht ($292,000) to support wildlife conservation efforts at in Thailand.
Khao Kheow Open Zoo announced on the social media platform X, that Buterin is sponsoring Moo Deng, a pygmy hippo, and the money will go toward the zoo’s wildlife sponsorship project. 
Thank you Vitalik Buterin for joining the Wildlife Sponsorship Program and adopting Moo Deng with a generous gift of 10,000,000 THB for her family! We look forward to working with you over the next 2 years for the benefit of the Khao Kheow Open Zoo community & all… — สวนสัตว์เปิดเขาเขียว Khao Kheow Open Zoo (@KhaokheowZoo) 
Narongwit Chotchoy, the zoo’s director, expressed gratitude for the generous gesture, and Buterin’s commitment to global environmental and educational initiatives.
In a letter accompanying the donation, Buterin said: Vitalik Buterin Visits Zoo During Devcon 7 Held in Thailand
Bueterin visited the zoo in November when Thailand hosted Devcon, Ethereum’s flagship conference, in Bangkok. His words reflect a growing relationship between Thailand and the Ethereum community.
The donation will provide Moo Deng and other pygmy hippos with a habitat and also help construct an educational centre dedicated to teaching visitors about pygmy hippos.
The zoo said it aims to dispel common misconceptions about the species. Unlike their larger relatives, pygmy hippos are passive, smaller, and mostly nocturnal, often fearful of human interaction. 
Earlier this year, Buterin converted meme coins worth $1.6 million into ETH and donated them to charitable causes.
Buterin’s philanthropic efforts, alongside his continued contributions to Ethereum, have led some prominent economists, including Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok, to suggest him as a potential candidate for the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences.