Vitalik Buter was adopted by Mu Deng, a viral hippopotamus, at a Thai zoo

Stalled Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto prices may not be in the holiday spirit for traders, but some with cash are trying to spread the goodwill.

Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, said that when he was growing up, he accepted the challenge of becoming the “adoptive father” of the pygmy hippopotamus Mu Deng. He is also donating 10 million Thai baht ($300,000) to the Khao Kheow Open Zoo near Bangkok, where the five-month-old boy lives, he said in a statement on Channel X on Thursday.

The donation in Mu Deng’s name will be used to improve the zoo’s general operations and create a special pygmy hippopotamus habitat inside the building.

Buterin said the donations came at the annual Ethereum developer conference in November with “Thailand’s incredible hospitality” and were a “gesture of friendship and respect” for the entire country.

“What better way to do this than to give a Christmas present to Mu Deng, who is dear to the entire Thai people and has become one of the most unpredictable and important Thai celebrities on the world stage,” Butering wrote in a letter. zoo.

Mu Deng, or Thai pork, became a popular internet meme earlier this year after pictures of it went viral. He has two siblings, his brother Mu Tun (stewed pork) and his sister Mu Waan (sweet pork).

The memecoin it inspired, MOODENG on Solana, also went viral, reaching a market capitalization of over $600 million in November after receiving listings on influential exchanges such as Binance and Coinbase.

MOODENG was the first label dedicated to an animal other than a dog or cat to garner significant trade volume, and by some the first Thai memecoin.

The token’s price is down 60% from its peak, but Mu Deng’s popularity is focused on Thailand and neighboring markets.