Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has resumed the automated liquidation of unsolicited memecoins airdropped to his wallet, a practice that is creating sell pressure on low-liquidity meme tokens and netting him substantial returns. On-chain analytics firms Arkham Intelligence and Lookonchain reported that an address attributed to Buterin (0xAb5…) began a high-frequency selling spree of multiple low-cap memecoins, executing swaps into ETH and stablecoins every minute.
According to Arkham data, the wallet is using automated scripts to batch-liquidate the tokens, rather than making discretionary one-off sales. The pattern is reminiscent of Buterin's earlier actions: in 2021, he famously sold or donated large allocations of airdropped memecoins such as SHIB, triggering sharp price dislocations. More recently, in 2025, he offloaded dozens of tokens—including DOJO, SPURDO, and MARVIN—for about 22.14 ETH (roughly $96,000 at the time), and separately dumped 275 trillion CAT tokens for $14,216 via the LiFi Diamond aggregator.
Lookonchain reported that over the past 24 hours, Buterin's address converted the gifted memecoins into 114,566 USDC and 155 ETH, yielding a total windfall of approximately $350,000. The transaction highlights a long-standing issue: developers often airdrop tokens to influential wallets as a marketing tactic, hoping to create the illusion of endorsement. Buterin has publicly criticized this practice, calling unsolicited tokens "spam" and urging projects to stop sending them.
The current wave of memecoin liquidation also coincides with Buterin's ongoing transparent sales of his own ETH holdings. Arkham data shows he has sold around 17,196 ETH since early February as part of a pre-announced plan to fund open-source development and privacy research. The combined activity turns his address into a structural source of sell pressure for illiquid meme bets, with each scripted sale adding incremental pressure on thinly traded order books.
Market participants have noted that while high-profile sales can often signal a lack of confidence, Buterin's case is distinct: he is not selling his own ETH holdings but tokens he never requested. The market reaction has been muted, with ETH prices remaining stable. Nonetheless, the episode serves as a cautionary tale for meme coin investors, underscoring the risks of relying on celebrity endorsements and the inefficiency of token airdrops as a marketing strategy.
