Vitalik Buterin Sends $500K in ETH to Support Zuitzerland Project

• Vitalik Buterin donates 274 ETH, supporting Web3 and decentralization projects.
• Ethereum price rises 5%, but still 61% below its November 2021 peak.
• Ethereum spot ETFs see $6.41M in March, reflecting growing institutional interest.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin donated 274 ETH worth $500,000 to Isla for her research on Web3 and her Zuitzerland development work. The financial assistance from Buterin supports community-portrayed initiatives as part of his persistent backing for decentralised projects. Through Switzerland, the Cybersecurity Community follows Buterin’s visionary Zuzalu model to bring together Technology experts investigating longevity programming and decentralised government systems.

The donation occurred at a time when Ethereum experienced price growth, and its trading value reached $1,883, a 5% increase from the previous day. However, the price recovery of ETH achieved limited success since the cryptocurrency maintains a 61% loss from its previous peak of $4,891, set in November 2021. 

Strategic Liquidation Before Donation

Buterin sold his other assets through liquidation before donating money to Isla. He generated $93,000 from selling 5,000 Dohrnii tokens and obtained $16,500 from selling 2 trillion LEDOG tokens. The sales of assets took place right before Buterin migrated his 274 ETH funds to Isla. Buterin’s strategic asset liquidation implied that he needed to prepare for his upcoming ETH donation. Buterin obtained the tokens along with LEDOG from the founders of Dohrniii Labs between late 2024 and early 2025.

Buterin maintained possession of many LEDOG tokens even after he sold some assets to fund his charity donation. He continues selling his tokens, indicating a long-term plan to trade them for other needs. 

Ethereum Price Recovery and Market Sentiment

The 5% increase in the Ethereum price occurred at the same time as the entire crypto market experienced a 3% upward movement in total market value. The market maintains a careful attitude among investors since the fear index dominates market sentiment, according to the fear and greed index. The ETH market shows decreasing investor confidence because its current value is 43% below last quarter’s.

CoinGlass documented Ethereum positions that reached $61 million in liquidation values. Liquidated positions showed short positions accounting for 61% of the total, while the rest were long positions demonstrating trader expectations of price reduction before ETH’s upward movement.

Ethereum spot ETFs revived their dormant stage through substantial new investments during March. ETH spot ETFs increased their total investment by $6.41 million on March 31. The FETH ETF by Fidelity received its most immense daily contribution when it received $6.4 million, which boosted its total inflow to $1.414 billion. The change represents an optimistic movement in investment products involving Ethereum, revealing increased institutional interest towards ETH.