MOODENG News: Vitalik Buterin Adopts Viral Hippo Moo Deng at Thailand Zoo

Stalled bitcoin (BTC) and crypto costs will not be 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, might be used to improve normal zoo operations and create a devoted pygmy hippo habitat inside the premises.

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

“What higher method to try this than by a Christmas current to somebody who’s expensive to all Thai folks, Moo Deng, and who has change into some of the surprising and necessary 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.