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The Ethereum Foundation begins staking 70,000 $ETH, with rewards flowing back to its treasury at a 2.8% yield
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The move follows years of community backlash over the Foundation selling tens of thousands of $ETH to fund operations
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Co-founder Vitalik Buterin sold over $21M in $ETH this month alone, raising questions about who's buying and who's exiting
The Ethereum Foundation has begun staking a portion of its treasury, depositing 2,016 $ETH today as the first tranche of a broader plan to stake approximately 70,000 $ETH. All staking rewards will be directed back to the EF treasury to fund protocol R&D, ecosystem development, and community grants, effectively replacing years of controversial $ETH sell-offs with protocol-native yield.
At current prices, the full 70,000 $ETH commitment represents roughly $128M locked into validators rather than sold on the open market.
Why Ethereum Foundation Is Staking Instead of Selling $ETH
The Foundation sold approximately 36,000 $ETH via CoW Swap throughout 2025, triggering repeated community backlash. A $650M wallet transfer in October 2025 sparked dump fears, forcing co-executive director Hsiao-Wei Wang to clarify it was a planned migration.
Staking changes that dynamic entirely. Based on the CoinDesk Composite Ether Staking Rate (CESR), the current $ETH staking yield is approximately 2.808%. On 70,000 $ETH, that translates to roughly $3.6M per year flowing into the treasury without a single token being sold.
Also Read: Bitmine’s $8.8B Ethereum Loss Now Worse Than FTX, Analysts Warn of ‘Structural Impairment’
How the EF Built Its Validator Setup
The Foundation is using open-source tools Dirk and Vouch by Attestant. Dirk acts as a distributed signer across multiple jurisdictions, removing single points of failure. Vouch supports multi-client pairings to reduce client diversity risks.
The Ethereum Foundation said:
“We are excited to take this important step, which helps secure the Ethereum network and at the same time fund the EF’s core operations & activities, including protocol R&D, ecosystem development, community grant funding and more.”
The setup employs minority clients across hosted and self-managed hardware in several countries.
What 70,000 $ETH Off the Market Means for Ethereum Price
The Foundation’s shift to staking comes as co-founder Vitalik Buterin moves in the opposite direction, selling over 10,700 $ETH worth $21.7M in February alone. $ETH is trading near $1,821, down 37% over the past month.
Arkham Intelligence data shows the EF still holds 172,650 $ETH plus 10,000 WETH. Staking the full 70,000 would lock roughly 38% of its total $ETH holdings out of liquid circulation, reducing one of the largest known sources of recurring sell pressure on Ethereum.