The non-profit Ethereum Foundation (EF) has begun staking part of its treasury. The first transaction was 2,016 ETH.
1/ The Ethereum Foundation has begun staking a portion of its treasury, in line with its Treasury Policy announced last year.
Today, the EF made a 2016 ETH deposit. Approximately 70,000 ETH will be staked with rewards directed back to the EF treasury.
— Ethereum Foundation (@ethereumfndn) February 24, 2026
In the first phase, the foundation will lock a total of 70,000 ETH. All rewards will fund the ecosystem of the second-largest cryptocurrency, including research and community grants.
“We are pleased to take this important step, which will help secure the Ethereum network while funding EF’s core operations and activities,” representatives of the organisation said.
For staking, EF uses the open tools Dirk and Vouch from Attestant. The former acts as a distributed signer, coordinating across jurisdictions and removing a single point of failure. The latter handles validator management.
The organisation oversees assets worth $371m. The bulk — $314m — is Ethereum.
EF has repeatedly faced criticism over systematic ETH sales. The community has also questioned the transparency of its finances and why the foundation’s funds were not staked to generate yield.
Buterin’s sales
Since early February, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has sold more than 10,000 ETH worth $21.7m at an average asset price of $2,027, according to Onchain Lens.
Vitalik (@VitalikButerin) continues selling $ETH.
In the past 2.5 days, he has sold 3,765 $ETH for $7.08M.
Since Feb 2nd, he has sold 10,723 $ETH for $21.74M at a price of $2,027.
Address: 0xfeb016d0d14ac0fa6d69199608b0776d007203b2 pic.twitter.com/YTMr3DOkih
— Onchain Lens (@OnchainLens) February 24, 2026
According to Lookonchain, in just three days (21–23 February) the programmer sold 3,765 ETH for $7.08m.
vitalik.eth(@VitalikButerin) continues to sell $ETH.
Over the past 3 days, he has sold 3,788.57 $ETH($7.3M).https://t.co/pMvkZHjIyDhttps://t.co/yQHZT3jRtA pic.twitter.com/wDreT4ysOW
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) February 24, 2026
At the end of January, Buterin said the Ethereum Foundation was entering a “moderate austerity” mode. In support of the initiative, he contributed 16,384 ETH (about $43m at the time). The funds are earmarked for projects in:
- finance;
- communications;
- governance;
- operating systems;
- secure hardware;
- biotechnology.
Timing
The sales come amid a deep correction in Ethereum: over the past month the asset has fallen 38% and trades around $1,800. That is more than 60% below the all-time high reached in August 2025.
The community’s response to Buterin’s transfers was mixed. Some criticised him “for dumping his own project.” Others supported the programmer, noting he disclosed the sales publicly.
“Framing the situation as ‘pure selling’ distorts the understanding of intentions. It creates unnecessary concerns, overlooking the funding goals. […] It is necessary to consider the full context,” wrote a user under the pseudonym Danny Daily Note.
Transfers from Buterin’s wallet have previously coincided with price declines, Lookonchain noted. For example, before selling 6,958 ETH ($14.78m), the price fell from $2,360 to $1,825 (-22.7%).
On 22–23 February, when the Ethereum co-founder sold 1,869 ETH ($3.67m), quotes fell from $1,988 to $1,875 (-5.7%).
Earlier, on the asset’s daily chart a “bearish pennant” formed—a pattern indicating the likelihood of a strong downward price move.