Why Did Vitalik Buterin Move $2M ETH to a Multisig Wallet?

Vitalik Buterin recently transferred 800 ETH tokens, valued at $2.01 million, to a multisig wallet. This transaction attracted attention, as it marked the second time he had made a similar transfer this month.

Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and other groups commonly use Multisig wallets to securely manage shared treasuries, requiring multiple approvals for transactions to add an extra layer of security.

Buterin Makes Another Transfer To Multisig Wallet

Lookonchain reported that the multisig wallet, which received 800 ETH from Vitalik Buterin, later swapped 190 ETH for 477,000 USDC. This transaction follows an earlier one on August 9, where Buterin moved 3,000 ETH, worth $8.04 million, to the same Multisig wallet. Before that, a Buterin-linked wallet had transferred 0.1 ETH to the wallet for testing purposes.

According to data from Etherscan, the most recent transaction incurred a minimal fee of 0.00005465 ETH. Notably, this transfer originated from a different wallet, identified as Vb2 — likely short for Vitalik Buterin’s second wallet — unlike previous transactions, which were sourced from the vitalik.eth wallet.

According to data on Etherscan, vitalik.eth now holds 29.4 ETH, worth around $74,229. Meanwhile, Vb2 holds 52.5 ETH, valued at $132,412.

Read More: What Are Multi-Signature Wallets and How Do They Work?

The crypto community is speculating about the purpose of Vitalik Buterin’s recent ETH transfer. Some believe it could be a donation, following his July contribution of 100 ETH, valued at nearly $300,000 at the time, to the 2077 Collective — a group dedicated to promoting Ethereum adoption.

Buterin’s move to transfer his ETH holdings to a Multisig wallet also highlights his commitment to privacy and security. This assumption is supported by his 30 ETH donation in May to the legal defense of Alexey Pertsev and Roman Storm, developers of the Tornado Cash.

Furthermore, Buterin is an outspoken advocate for “decentralizing your own security.” In a recent post on X, he disclosed storing 90% of his crypto funds in a multisig wallet.

“M-of-N, some keys held by you (but not enough to block recovery), the rest held by other people you trust. Do not reveal who those other people are, even to each other. Decentralize your own security,” he wrote.

Read More: Hot Wallets vs. Cold Wallets: What’s the Difference?

For the layperson, “m-of-n” describes the structure of multisig wallets. The “m” represents the minimum number of signatures required to approve a transaction, such as spending or transferring funds from the wallet. The “n” refers to the total number of possible signatories associated with the wallet.

Buterin’s post came after comments by 0xkofi, a pseudonymous developer and researcher, who advised traders to use cold storage. He highlighted the importance of safeguarding assets by urging traders to consider the devastating consequences of losing all their funds.