Discussions ignited as 100 ETH Railgun deposit prompts debate
Speculation arose within the crypto community regarding Ethereum co-creator Vitalik Buterin’s recent deposit of $330,000 in crypto into Railgun’s privacy protocol. On April 15, it was observed by blockchain monitoring tool Scopescan that Buterin transferred 100 Ether (ETH) to Railgun, utilizing his ENS-tagged wallet, vitalik.eth. Reports have indicated that Buterin has been utilizing the protocol over the past six months, depositing small amounts of ETH. Railgun, as per DefiLlama, is an EVM dapp that provides privacy features for on-chain lending and token swaps. It employs zk-SNARK, a zero-knowledge technology-based encryption model, to prove ownership of an asset or data without revealing it. Since its launch in January 2021, Railgun has accumulated a total value locked of nearly $35 million. Following discussions among crypto enthusiasts on social media about Buterin’s deposit, he clarified his use of Railgun, stating that privacy is a normal aspect and that the protocol supports anonymity while maintaining security. In response to Buterin’s statement, Railgun’s native token RAIL experienced a surge of over 140% in value. This is not the first instance where an Ethereum-based token has witnessed a price increase after Buterin endorsed its underlying protocol. In January, his mention of the Ethereum Name Service resulted in a 40% rise in the value of the protocol’s native crypto, ENS.
