USD 1,000,000,000 (1B) donation

[Gianluca Miscione]

I know the subject line looks like a scam email about some king trying to move money around…

Anyway, it seems that Vitalik Buterin (Ethereum founder) has donated 500 ETH and a zillion of SHIB to an Indian "community-run fund delivering relief during the ongoing Covid crisis in India" (https://cryptorelief.in/), who "plan to do a thoughtful liquidation to ensure we meet our COVID relief goals. We have decided to convert the donation slowly over a period of time."

Later it becomes clearer what is at stake: SHIB is really highly volatile. So, SHIB holders need to be reassured that this NGO won't cash out quickly (despite the urgency of the Indian Covid crisis?) thus setting SHIB price in a nosedive:

"One thing we have learnt from Ethereum and @VitalikButerin  is importance of community

We will not do anything which hurts any community specially the retail community involved with $SHIB

We will act responsibly!

Plz dont worry $SHIB holders." 

[https://twitter.com/CryptoRelief_/status/1392559057764962304]

 So, a few remarks:

1. an health care related NGO can have a large influence on a crypto price
2. they seem to be in a paradoxical situation: if they cash out quickly (as they may need), the USD value of what they've received drops (I'd be surprised if they start paying directly with SHIB)
3. their main stakeholders are now SHIB holders

In short, two very different social worlds have a direct interdependence and quite diverging interests...

Gianluca

 

Gianluca Miscione
University College Dublin
http://www.ucd.ie/cito/members/gianlucamiscione