Cashing Out Buterin’s $1B SHIB Donation Isn’t Easy, Says COVID-Crypto Fund’s Creator

It’s been two months since Ethereum’s co-founder Vitalik Buterin shocked the entire crypto community with his $1 billion Shibu Inu (SHIB) donation to the COVID-Crypto Fund in India. However, cashing this in revealed to be troublesome, according to the fund’s creator.

Only $20M Have Been Disbursed

But to date, only an infinitesimal portion of the tokens have been distributed, according to Sandeep Nailwal, Polygon’s co-founder and the creator of the Fund that received the donation. 

In fact, the New Delhi-based entrepreneur revealed that only $20 million of the SHIB tokens has been paid out with another $20 million in the pipeline. 

Sandeep Nailwal: It Isn’t Easy 

The fund creator told Bloomberg that cashing out Buterin’s $1 billion donation is quite tricky because of the cumbersome processes involved such as liquidity issues, complying with government policies, and distributing the funds appropriately. 

“Between cashing out of an illiquid asset, complying with government regulations and getting the money to the right places, it isn’t easy,” Sandeep Nailwal said. 

According to him, complying with India’s Foreign Contribution Regulation Act requires the tokens to first be converted before rupees. He noted that 80% of the tokens have been converted already. 

With $20 million paid out so far, the fund creator stated that he wants to ensure the money gets to the grassroots level. The funds are being disbursed to food distributors around the country, as well as to an organization establishing mini-intensive care wards for COVID-19 patients in rural areas. Nailwal plans to hire a top auditing firm to ensure transparency, the report added. 

Buterin’s $1B SHIB Donation Now Worth $400M

As reported in May, Vitalik Buterin, who was gifted half of Shiba Inu’s total supply, surprised everyone when he burned 90% of his SHIB holdings worth nearly $7 billion alongside other dog meme tokens. He donated the remaining 10% to charitable organizations and Nailwal’s COVID-Crypto Fund received 50 trillion SHIB ($1 billion at the time) with GiveWell and Charter Cities Institute also among the beneficiaries. 

In the aftermath of the market-shaking event, SHIB and the other tokens plummeted heavily, losing nearly half of their value at the time. The drop in Shiba Inu’s price also affected the 50 trillion SHIB donation and Nailwal estimates the new value to be around $400 million.