Vitalik Buterin adopts the viral hippopotamus Mo Ding at the Thailand Zoo

The stalled prices of Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrencies may not bring festive cheer to traders, but some with money are trying to spread goodwill.

Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, said he has accepted an invitation to be a “foster father” to pygmy hippopotamus Mo Ding when she grows up. He said in a Thursday post on X that he is also donating 10 million Thai baht ($300,000) to the Khao Khiaw Open Zoo near Bangkok where the five-month-old cub lives.

Donations made in Moo Deng’s name will be used to upgrade the zoo’s public operations and create a dedicated habitat for the pygmy hippopotamus within the building.

Buterin said the donations came against the backdrop of Thailand’s “wonderful hospitality” during the annual Ethereum Developers Conference in November, and were a “gesture of friendship and respect” for all parts of the country.

“What better way to do this than with a Christmas gift to someone dear to all Thai people, Mo Deng, who has become one of the most unexpected Thai celebrities on the world stage,” Buterin said in a letter to Reuters. Zoo.

Moo Deng, or bouncy pork in Thai, became a popular internet meme earlier this year after photos of it went viral. She has two siblings, brother Mo Tun (stewed pork) and sister Mo Wan (sweet pork).

The memecoin that inspired it, MOODENG on Solana, went viral and reached a market capitalization of more than $600 million in November after being listed on influential exchanges like Binance and Coinbase.

MOODENG was the first animal-themed token other than a dog or cat to receive huge trading volumes and is considered by some to be the most profitable coin. The first Thai memcoin.

However, token prices are down 60% from the peak, as Moo Deng’s popularity remains concentrated within Thailand and neighboring markets.