zycrypto.com
The price of Ether ($ETH) risks a deeper pullback, with the potential to breach the psychologically important $1,500 support level in the days ahead. This comes as Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin is selling millions of dollars’ worth of $ETH, intensifying downward pressure on a market that is already struggling.
Buterin Offloads $ETH ‘Faster’
Over a two-day period, Buterin sold 1,869 $ETH, valued at $3.67 million, after withdrawing 3,500 $ETH from Aave, according to blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain.
Since February 2, Buterin has reportedly sold nearly 8,000 $ETH in batches. These moves come after his January 30 announcement that he would liquidate his total holding of 16,384 $ETH to fund ecosystem growth, support open-source projects, and other strategic initiatives, as the Ethereum Foundation adopts a period of “mild austerity.”
Vitalik Buterin “is selling $ETH faster again,” Lookonchain observed in a Monday post on X.
Ether has dropped roughly 3.2% in the last 24 hours, briefly hitting a 20-day low of $1,843 earlier today, according to CoinGecko data. The token has been trending downward since reaching a peak above $4,946 last August.
Ethereum has fallen 19% so far in February, mirroring Buterin’s ongoing $ETH sales. At the time of reporting, Buterin still controlled more than 224,000 $ETH, valued at $429 million, according to Arkham Intelligence. Selling more of his stash could add further downward pressure on the market.
Past trends demonstrate that sales tied to a founder can intensify bearish sentiment in the market. For example, when he previously sold 6,958 $ETH (worth $14.78 million), the token plunged from $2,360 to $1,825, marking a nearly 23% decline.
vitalik.eth(@VitalikButerin) is selling $ETH faster again.
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) February 23, 2026
In the past 2 days, he has sold 1,869 $ETH($3.67M). During that time, $ETH fell from $1,988 to $1,875, down 5.7%.
Last time he sold 6,958 $ETH($14.78M), $ETH dropped from $2,360 to $1,825 — a 22.7% fall.… pic.twitter.com/v2x6Q3ZTme
Although Buterin has been reducing his holdings, this supply is being snapped up by Ethereum treasury players such as Tom Lee’s BitMine Immersion Technologies, which now owns a whopping 4.37 million $ETH, worth $8.68 billion.
Despite a significant drop in the value of its $ETH holdings amid the token’s dramatic drawdown, BitMine Chairman Lee remains bullish on Ethereum’s future. Following the Consensus Hong Kong conference earlier this month, he called 2026 a “defining year for Ethereum.”