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The Ethereum Foundation has released a report detailing its $970.2 million treasury, primarily held in ether. The report outlines the foundation’s strategy of selling ETH during bull markets to fund ecosystem projects during bear markets.
Rationale Behind Ethereum Foundation’s ETH Sales
The Ethereum Foundation (EF), the non-profit organization supporting the Ethereum ecosystem, has unveiled a new report stating that it held assets worth approximately $970.2 million in its treasury as of October 31, 2024. Of this total, 81.2% is in cryptocurrency, with the majority held in ether (99.45%). The remaining funds are distributed across unspecified non-crypto investments and assets.
According to the organization, these funds partly support Ethereum-focused independent organizations such as the Nomic Foundation, Geodework, and the newly formed Argot Collective. The funds are also used to support the ecosystem via grants.
The release of the report comes a few months after reports of the EF liquidating its ETH holdings sparked community concern. Although the EF and Ethereum ecosystem insiders, like co-founder Vitalik Buterin, have pushed back against claims that the foundation is dumping tokens, some critics remain unconvinced.
This has seemingly prompted the EF’s Aya Miyaguchi to release a report explaining why the foundation has been offloading some of its ETH holdings. The report seemingly addresses concerns that the EF’s sales are impacting the ETH price.
To address these concerns, EF’s Aya Miyaguchi released a report explaining the reasons for the ETH sales and aiming to dispel fears of a negative impact on the ETH price.
“The vast majority (99.45%) of our crypto holdings are held in ETH. This ETH represents 0.26% of the total ETH supply on October 31 2024. We choose to hold the majority of our treasury in ETH. The EF believes in Ethereum’s potential, and our ETH holdings represent that long term perspective. At the same time, the goal of the EF’s treasury is to fund important public goods for the Ethereum ecosystem for years into the future,” the EF report states.
To achieve these goals, the EF said it periodically sells ether tokens during bull markets to generate fiat savings for spending during bear markets. Miyaguchi said this approach helps the EF maintain a long-term focus on supporting a sustainable and open ecosystem.
The report also details the EF’s spending in 2022 and 2023. In 2022, the foundation spent $105.4 million, with 30.4% allocated to Layer 1 research and development, 27.1% to new institutions, and 18.5% to community development. In 2023, the foundation spent $134.9 million, with 35.2% allocated to new institutions, 25.7% to Layer 1 R&D, and the remainder to other areas.
Meanwhile, the report also includes a section discussing the EF’s conflict of interest policy and its applications and exemptions.