When Vitalik Buterin destroyed 50% of the Shiba Inu supply in May 2021, he kickstarted the trend of SHIB burning.
Sending 410 trillion SHIB to the dead wallet address - worth $6.7bn at the time - is a daunting task, even for a crypto-icon such as Buterin.
Indeed, on an episode of the UpOnly podcast, Buterin revealed the steps he took to burn SHIB, including buying a new computer from Target.
Vitalik Buys Computer For SHIB Burn
When asked how it felt burning SHIB, Buterin said: “It was scary and fun at the same time.”
“The scary part is this is basically more money than I’d ever had. In order to get rid of it, I had to follow a really complicated technical procedure.”
The 500 trillion SHIB was stored in a cold wallet, with its private key stored on two paper backup numbers. Buterin held one number, while his family in Canada held the other.
After getting the second number, Buterin then needed to move the near $7bn in SHIB to prepare for the burn.
“I generated the transaction, and on a computer that I bought from Target for $300 just for this purpose.”
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He then cleared the computer and installed a programme to create a QR code for the transaction. Buterin scanned the QR code, and then entered it on Etherscan before beginning the swaps on Uniswap.
Crypto holders often buy new devices to store or move their coins around on. This reduces the risk of infected computers or malware stealing their holdings.
“It was technically scary in a way that would probably make a good plot for a James Bond movie,” he said.
Since the initial burn, SHIB holders have engaged in smaller community burns to reduce the circulating supply. SHIB holders created games to burn SHIB, for example.