Vitalik Buterin, billionaire co-founder of the cryptocurrency network Ethereum, donated more than $1 billion in digital currencies to the India Covid-Crypto Relief Fund, according to a report.
The 27-year-old Mr Buterin, who is the world's youngest known crypto billionaire, made the donation by offloading dog-themed meme tokens, Shiba Inu coins (SHIB), that were gifted to him.
Nearly 50.7 trillion SHIB coins – worth more than $1 billion on Wednesday – were sent to the relief fund from Mr Buterin’s account. He also sent $2 million worth of Ether, the in-house currency of the Ethereum network, to the fund that was set up by Indian technology entrepreneur Sandeep Nailwal.
"It was $1bn when he made the donation – in a cryptocurrency that few had heard of and whose value plunged right after news of the donation spread," Wall Street Journal reported.
The transaction sparked panic among investors and drove the SHIB price down by about 35 per cent in the past 24 hours, according to data on Uniswap, a decentralised finance platform on which it trades.
This could mean the amount donated could reduce depending on the crypto's value. However, SHIB's price has slightly improved since then.
Mr Buterin’s crypto wallet, which he made public in 2018, holds 333,521 Ether worth $1.13bn as of May 4. The second largest cryptocurrency was down by more than 11 per cent at $3,799 a coin at 02.19pm UAE time on Thursday.
However, Mr Nailwal rushed to reassure investors on Twitter, saying the funds will be used responsibly.
“One thing we have learnt from Ethereum and Vitalik Buterin is importance of community,” Mr Nailwal, who is also the co-founder and chief operating officer of blockchain start-up Polygon, said on Twitter.
"We will not do anything which hurts any community [e]specially the retail community involved with $SHIB … we will act responsibly! Plz dont worry $SHIB holders."
Last month, Mr Nailwal had appealed to the global crypto community to step up their donations to support Covid-19 relief efforts in India.
Asia's second-most populous nation has been grappling with a brutal second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. India has logged 362,727 new Covid-19 infections over the last 24 hours while deaths climbed by 4,120, taking the toll to 258,317, health ministry data showed on Thursday. The country currently has a total caseload of 23.7 million.
“Can't take this sitting down anymore, I am going to run a Covid relief campaign in lieu of what’s going on in India. Need help from the global crypto community. I will take full responsibility for transparency, funds usage and regulatory compliance,” Mr Nailwal said on Twitter last month.
SHOW COURTS ORDER OF PLAY
Centre Court (4pm UAE/12pm GMT)
Victoria Azarenka (BLR) v Heather Watson (GBR)
Rafael Nadal (ESP x4) v Karen Khachanov (RUS x30)
Andy Murray (GBR x1) v Fabio Fognini (ITA x28)
Court 1 (4pm UAE)
Steve Johnson (USA x26) v Marin Cilic (CRO x7)
Johanna Konta (GBR x6) v Maria Sakkari (GRE)
Naomi Osaka (JPN) v Venus Williams (USA x10)
Court 2 (2.30pm UAE)
Aljaz Bedene (GBR) v Gilles Muller (LUX x16)
Peng Shuai (CHN) v Simona Halep (ROM x2)
Jelena Ostapenko (LAT x13) v Camila Giorgi (ITA)
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA x12) v Sam Querrey (USA x24)
Court 3 (2.30pm UAE)
Kei Nishikori (JPN x9) v Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP x18)
Carina Witthoeft (GER) v Elina Svitolina (UKR x4)
Court 12 (2.30pm UAE)
Dominika Cibulkova (SVK x8) v Ana Konjuh (CRO x27)
Kevin Anderson (RSA) v Ruben Bemelmans (BEL)
Court 18 (2.30pm UAE)
Caroline Garcia (FRA x21) v Madison Brengle (USA)
Benoit Paire (FRA) v Jerzy Janowicz (POL)
3%20Body%20Problem
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECreators%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20David%20Benioff%2C%20D%20B%20Weiss%2C%20Alexander%20Woo%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBenedict%20Wong%2C%20Jess%20Hong%2C%20Jovan%20Adepo%2C%20Eiza%20Gonzalez%2C%20John%20Bradley%2C%20Alex%20Sharp%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Breaking News: The Remaking of Journalism and Why It Matters Now
Alan Rushbridger, Canongate
'The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas are Setting up a Generation for Failure'
Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt, Penguin Randomhouse
Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
