Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin donated $4 million in USDC to the Australian University of New South Wales (UNSW) to develop a solution to prevent pandemics.
#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 5.3 million Australian dollars. The funds will be used to further develop EPIWATCH, an open source intelligence tool (OSINT) for early detection of pandemics.
Since 2016, Professor Rayna McIntyre of the UNSW Kirby Institute has been developing the solution. EPIWATCH uses massive amounts of online data and artificial intelligence to detect early signals of epidemics.
According to the statement, the tool is much faster than official health care systems, but does not replace them.
Buterin’s funds will help McIntyre’s team make EPIWATCH accessible to low- and middle-income countries, the university said.
“Imagine if someone discovered COVID-19 before it spread around the world – that is our mission. Using artificial intelligence and real-time data from open sources, EPIWATCH does not depend on people making reports. This is a great equalizer that can overcome weak health systems and censorship, ”said the professor.
Buterin donated to the initiative through the Balvi Filanttropic Fund. He launched the organization in January after India’s COVID-19-focused Crypto Relief fund returned $100 million to SHIBA from an approximately $1 billion grant.
Recall that in April, the co-founder of Ethereum sent 1,500 ETH (more than $4.7 million at that time) to help Ukraine.
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