The Ethereum Foundation (EF) has made a significant move in its fund management. According to data from the analysis firm on-chain Arkham, the organization withdrew 17,035.32 ETH last Saturday, equivalent to about $40 million, just days after nearly completing its internal goal of holding 70,000 ETH in staking.
The operation was carried out through ether (ETH) deposit in wrapped staking (wstETH) on the Lido withdrawal contract, the largest liquid staking protocol in the ecosystem. The assets are expected to return to the Foundation’s wallets once the network exit queue is complete.
Sales on the horizon or technical rebalancing?
The lack of immediate official communication from the Foundation has given rise to various theories within the community. Some observers suggest that this move could be a prelude to a partial liquidation to finance operationsa recurring practice in the history of the EF. Comments of users on social networks reflect skepticism regarding the synchronicity of the withdrawal with current market prices, due to the fact that the Foundation continues to be one of the largest sellers of ETH.
It should be remembered that the staking withdrawal process on the Ethereum Beacon Chain is not instantaneous. After the request, validators must wait a certain period for the funds to be unlocked and available again at the execution layer (mainnet), which allows the Foundation to have immediate liquidity if required.
The path to 70,000 ETH in staking
This withdrawal interrupts an accumulation trend that formally began in June 2025, when the Foundation updated its internal policy to allow staking of its assets. The stated objective was to use the returns generated to fund research, protocol development and grant delivery to the ecosystem without the need to constantly dilute its reserves.
Since February of this year, the EF increase your deposits aggressively:
- February: initial deposit of 2,016 ETH.
- March: addition of 22,517 ETH.
- April: series of transactions for more than 45,000 ETH.
With these maneuvers, The staking balance reached almost 69,500 ETH, remaining one step away from the goal of 70,000. The current withdrawal reduces that position considerably, putting it back below 53,000 ETH.
Governance risks and the vision of Vitalik Buterin
Beyond the financial impact, staking large entities like the Ethereum Foundation comes with political challenges. The network’s own co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, has previously warned about the dangers of EF having an excessive quota of validators.
According to Buterin, large-scale staking by the central organization could compromise ethical net neutrality. In scenarios of technical disputes or possible hard forks (hard forks), The weight of the Foundation in the consensus could be interpreted as coercion towards one of the chains, complicating the decentralization that the protocol seeks to protect.
For now, the market remains attentive to the Foundation’s wallet to confirm if these 17,000 ETH are destined for a new contract or if, on the contrary, they flow to exchanges for conversion to fiat currency.