Even though Vitalik Buterin’s Ethereum blockchain hasn’t been revolutionary, the man himself has been setting good precedence for noble causes. Recently, many unbanked Millenials have started utilizing Ethereum as an investment vehicle, a DeFi base, and an exchange medium, especially in areas where fiat transactions are not permissible or accessible.
Aid For Ukraine Announces Donation From Vitalik Buterin
Earlier today, the official Twitter account of Aid for Ukraine tweeted that Ethereum CEO and co-founder Vitalik Buterin donated a total of $6M to the initiative. Ukraine’s digital transformation ministry supervises the initiative, aiming to provide financial assistance for Ukraine in its war with Russia.
However, the tweet revealed that Buterin donated silently. The tweet also gave a breakdown of Buterin’s donations stating that he donated 50% of the $6M to the aid for Ukraine initiative while it donated the remaining half to the unchain fund. The unchain fund is another not-for-profit organization supervised by a group of blockchain activists providing Ukraine’s humanitarian needs during these trying times.
Even though the donation is huge, it also proves that many crypto enthusiasts are still convinced about Ethereum’s value and liquidity. A digital currency would only be widely accepted when many are convinced about its long-term potential.
Growing Competition For Ethereum
While some of these cryptos (such as doge and SHIB) experienced huge growth because they flow with the trend, others (such as Solana and Cardano) experienced growth because they are more than just providing investment alternatives.
However, Ethereum remains the king in the DeFi space as it pioneered smart contracts in crypto. As of last February, Ethereum controlled 94% of the DeFi market. However, that percentage reduced to the 50% range as other blockchains offered DeFi project creators better features.
Despite the increased competition, Ethereum still controls nearly 55% of the DeFi market, with more than 450 DeFi projects (and nearly $130B investments) built on it. However, Ethereum is beginning to gain more traction as an exchange medium as more small businesses now support crypto payments. Even sales of land plots on Shiba Inu’s metaverse space can be paid with Ethereum instead of Shiba Inu’s native token.
The SHIB team clarified that they prefer to accept ETH payments because it is more resistant to price crashes than SHIB. Hence, it is likely that Ethereum would also be the leading payment system in the metaverse as the metaverse grows and digital currencies become the top medium of exchange.
ETH Performance After The Donation Announcement
While ETH surged by 3% earlier today, it is unclear whether Buterin’s donation announcement was the cause because the price has since dipped by about 2.5% on the 4-hour chart. However, ETH will likely rebound as it trades close to the 0.382 fib retracement levels – a crucial support and resistance region in the past. If ETH keeps retesting this support, it will eventually surge past it and on its way to a new peak price.
