Vitalik Buterin Adopts Viral Hippo Moo Deng at Thailand Zoo

Stalled bitcoin (BTC) and crypto prices may not be bringing festive cheer to traders, but some with money are trying to spread the goodwill around.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said he’d accepted an invitation to be the “adoptive father” of pygmy hippo Moo Deng when she grows up. He is also donating 10 million Thai baht ($300,000) to the Khao Kheow Open Zoo near Bangkok where the five-month-old lives, he said in a Thursday posting on X.

The donations, made in Moo Deng’s name, will be used to upgrade general zoo operations and create a dedicated pygmy hippo habitat within the premises.

Buterin said the donations came on the back of the “wonderful hospitality of Thailand” during November’s annual Ethereum developer conference, and were a “gesture of friendship and respect” to all of the country.

“What better way to do that than through a Christmas present to someone who is dear to all Thai people, Moo Deng, and who has become one of the most unexpected and important Thai celebrities on the world stage,” Buterin said in a letter to the zoo.

Moo Deng, or bouncy pork in Thai, became a popular internet meme earlier this year after images of her went viral online. She has two siblings, brother Moo Toon (stewed pork) and sister Moo Waan (sweet pork).

A memecoin she inspired, MOODENG on Solana, went similarly viral and hit a market capitalization of above $600 million in November after bagging listings on influential exchanges such as Binance and Coinbase.

MOODENG was the first token themed on an animal other than a dog or cat to garner massive trading volumes and is considered by some to be the first Thai memecoin.

Token prices are down 60% from peak, however, as much of Moo Deng’s popularity remains focused within Thailand and neighboring markets.