Vitalik Buterin and Polygon co-founder contribute $100 million to COVID-19 research

Buterin’s primary research interests will be “Long COVID” research and medical infrastructure development. Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, is collaborating with India-based crypto fund Crypto Relief and Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal to contribute $100 million to COVID-19 research and medical infrastructure development in India. Buterin and Nailwal will receive $90 million in USD Coin from Crypto Relief, with Buterin personally contributing $10 million to the cause. The two will then assist in the distribution of the funds. 

According to a tweet by Nailwal in January 2022, Crypto Relief would transfer the assets to Buterin in order for the India-based crypto fund to remain fully compliant with local rules.

The first payment was used to combat the COVID-19 outbreak in India by providing “emergency humanitarian relief.” Crypto Relief bills itself as a community-run charity that provided financial assistance to India during the COVID-19 outbreak. Buterin stated in a June 8 Twitter post that COVID-19 and “future pandemics” will remain a “significant risk in the twenty-first century.” Buterin believes that we require a “global solution” that blends “frontier scientific innovation” with “on-the-ground implementation.”

Buterin stated that much of the COVID-19 research will focus on COVID-19 aerial transmission through the development of better medical equipment. “This includes better ventilation, HEPA filtering, and experimental technology such as UVC irradiation,” he explained. Furthermore, Buterin stated that the $100 million will be transferred to a Gnosis Safe wallet using the contract address listed below.

Buterin made the first $100 million donation in late January 2022 or shortly thereafter, which was initially in the form of Shiba Inu.  It’s also not Buterin’s first charitable endeavour. Buterin made $5 million in Ether (ETH) donations to “Aid for Ukraine” in April 2022 to aid the country’s defense against Russia’s invasion in February 2022. According to the firm’s website, as of November 26, Crypto Relief had raised $473 million in funds.

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