Vitalik Buterin Adopts Viral Hippo Moo Deng at Thailand Zoo

Stalled bitcoin (BTC) and crypto costs is probably not bringing festive cheer to merchants, however some with cash try to unfold the goodwill round.

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

The donations, made in Moo Deng’s identify, shall be used to improve basic zoo operations and create a devoted pygmy hippo habitat inside the premises.

Buterin stated the donations got here on the again of the “great hospitality of Thailand” throughout November’s annual Ethereum developer convention, and have been a “gesture of friendship and respect” to the entire nation.

“What higher approach to try this than by means of a Christmas current to somebody who’s expensive to all Thai individuals, Moo Deng, and who has turn out to be probably the most surprising and vital Thai celebrities on the world stage,” Buterin stated in a letter to the zoo.

Moo Deng, or bouncy pork in Thai, turned a preferred web meme earlier this yr after photographs of her went viral on-line. She has two siblings, brother Moo Toon (stewed pork) and sister Moo Waan (candy pork).

A memecoin she impressed, MOODENG on Solana, went equally viral and hit a market capitalization of above $600 million in November after bagging listings on influential exchanges comparable to Binance and Coinbase.

MOODENG was the primary token themed on an animal aside from a canine or cat to garner huge buying and selling volumes and is taken into account by some to be the primary Thai memecoin.

Token costs are down 60% from peak, nevertheless, as a lot of Moo Deng’s reputation stays targeted inside Thailand and neighboring markets.