Vitalik Buterin Donates $4 Million in USDC to Fund Pandemic-Detection Tool

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin donated $4 million in USDC to the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Australia to fund the development of a pandemic-detection tool.

#Ethereum co-founder @VitalikButerin has gifted UNSW $5.3 million in #cryptocurrency to support the development of a #pandemic detection tool designed by @KirbyInstitute‘s Prof Raina MacIntyre.https://t.co/aYYhI1iQwR pic.twitter.com/Gy0l1xejel

— Kirby Institute, UNSW (@KirbyInstitute) May 12, 2022

The institution converted the cryptocurrency into AUD 5.3 million. The funds will go toward further developing EPIWATCH — an open-source intelligence (OSINT) tool for early detection of pandemics.

The development of the solution has been led by Professor Raina MacIntyre of the Kirby Institute at UNSW since 2016. EPIWATCH uses large datasets from online sources and artificial intelligence to identify early signals of epidemics.

According to the statement, the tool operates far faster than official health systems but does not replace them.

The funds from Buterin will help MacIntyre’s team make EPIWATCH available to low- and middle-income countries, the university said.

“Imagine if someone had detected COVID-19 before it spread worldwide—that is our mission. By using artificial intelligence and real-time data from open sources, EPIWATCH does not rely on people reporting. It is a powerful equaliser, capable of overcoming weak health systems and censorship,” said the professor.

Buterin’s donation to the initiative was made through the Balvi Filanttropic Fund. He established the organisation in January after Crypto Relief returned to him $100 million in SHIBA from a grant of roughly $1 billion.

In April, the Ethereum co-founder directed 1,500 ETH (more than $4.7 million at the time) to aid Ukraine.