“AI is fundamentally different from other tech, and it is worth being uniquely careful”In their own words: vitalik.eth.limo
Ethereum co-founder and individual donor. In 2021 he gave SHIB tokens to the Future of Life Institute, which reportedly liquidated about $500M of them, far above the $10-25M he expected. In March 2026 he publicly questioned FLI's later pivot toward political action.
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Itemised here $6.1M in 3 grants
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Checked 27 Oct 2026
Money flows
Where their money came from and where it went. Pick years and what to show; hover a box or ribbon for details, click one to focus it, click the background to see everything.
How to apply
- Applications
- Not stated
Biggest recipients
Passed on to other funders
- Future of Life Institute 2021$666M
Gifts and pooled money between funders, as recorded on the site.
All grants
3 grants totalling $6.1M, newest first. Recipients link to their own pages; people who received grants without a public profile are shown by number.
2023 1 grant · $1M
| Date | Recipient | Amount | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Lightcone Infrastructure | $1M | General support (LessWrong / Lighthaven); "Vitalik Buterin and Jed McCaleb who each contributed $1,000,000 in 2023" source |
2021 1 grant · $4.4M
| Date | Recipient | Amount | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 2021 | Machine Intelligence Research Institute | $4.4M | Unsolicited donation of 1050 ETH, worth $4,378,159 at the time source |
2017 1 grant · $764k
| Date | Recipient | Amount | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 2017 | Machine Intelligence Research Institute | $764k | Ethereum donation worth $763,970 near the end of MIRI's 2017 fundraiser source |