The Ethereum Foundation began unwinding some of its invested position shortly after approaching its target of 70,000 ETH invested.
On Saturday, the Ethereum Foundation unloaded 17,035,326 ETH, worth roughly $40 million, according to according to Arkham’s data. The move involved depositing wrapped staked ETH (wstETH) into Lid’s unstETH contract, with the expectation that the ETH would be returned once the payout queue was completed.
In Ethereum, unstaking is the process of withdrawing ETH that was previously locked to secure the network through validators. When ETH is invested, it is stored in the Ethereum Beacon Chain, where it remains locked while earning rewards. To cancel stakes, a withdrawal request is initiated and the funds enter a waiting period after which the funds are released.
The Ethereum Foundation has yet to reveal why it took down 17,000 ETH, prompting some users to speculate that it may be preparing to sell. “The biggest sellers of ETH are still the people who created ETH,” one user wrote.
Related: Another DeFi protocol hacked as Sui-based Volo is hit with a $3.5 million exploit
The Ethereum Foundation is approaching the goal of 70 thousand ETH invested
EF began investing ETH after its policy update in June 2025. At the time, the foundation said the investment and decentralized funding participation would help fund protocol research, development and ecosystem grants.
Since February, the foundation has steadily expanded its position, initially investing 2,016 ETH, followed by 22,517 ETH in March. Earlier this month, the foundation invested more than 45,000 ETH in a series of transactions, bringing the total to about 69,500 ETH, which is a little short of its internal goal of 70,000 ETH.
However, management risk concerns remain. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has warned that large stake from the foundation could complicate neutrality during potential contentious hard forks, where competing chains could emerge.
Related: Ethereum Risks 10% Drop Against Bitcoin Despite ETH Staking Milestone
DeFi protocols are merging to support rsETH
As reported by Cointelegraph, decentralized financial protocols have joined forces to stabilize rsETH after a $293 million exploit on reinvestment platform Kelp caused market disruption. The incident involved hackers stealing more than 116,000 reinvested ETH tokens and using them as collateral to borrow funds, leaving roughly $195 million in bad debt on Aave and straining the broader DeFi lending market.
Backers have pledged more than 43,500 ETH (about 101 million USD) in a coordinated “DeFi United” effort led by Aave, with participation from Lido DAO, the Golem Foundation, and major contributions from the EtherFi Foundation and Mantle.
Magazine: Ethereum’s Fusaka fork explained for dummies: What the hell is PeerDAS?
