The Ethereum Foundation (EF) has announced the sale of approximately $43 million in Ether as part of its ongoing efforts to finance research and development, grants, and donations within the Ethereum ecosystem. In a recent post on X, the foundation detailed plans to convert 10,000 Ether (ETH) through centralized exchanges over several weeks. Rather than executing a single large transaction, the conversion will consist of multiple smaller orders.
This announcement follows the foundation’s recent decision to pause open grant applications as it seeks to revamp its grant process. Since the start of 2025, the EF has already distributed more than $32 million in grants, which include funding for community and educational initiatives.
In June, the EF instituted a treasury policy that outlined specific considerations for the sale of Ether. The foundation indicated that it would periodically assess the deviation of its fiat-denominated assets and determine the amount of Ether to sell over subsequent months. Following this policy’s implementation, the foundation has sold around $25 million worth of Ether to SharpLink Gaming and executed two transactions totaling 2,795 ETH, equating to about $12.7 million.
Historically, one of the foundation’s most significant sales occurred in December 2020 when it offloaded 100,000 ETH, a move that may have played a role in driving the price of Ether to an all-time high shortly thereafter. Currently, the price of ETH stands at $4,326, having surged over 23% in the last month, according to data from Nansen.
The foundation’s sale coincides with additional market activities. Yunfeng Financial Group announced its acquisition of 10,000 ETH in the open market, which appears to be unrelated to EF’s transaction. Furthermore, Ether Machine reported that it secured 150,000 ETH, as part of a strategy to build an Ether treasury ahead of a prospective Nasdaq listing. After this transaction, the company will hold a total of more than 345,000 ETH, valued at around $1.5 billion.
Joseph Lubin, co-founder of Ethereum, expressed on social media over the weekend that the growing adoption of ETH by Wall Street could potentially enable the asset to surpass Bitcoin (BTC) as a “monetary base.” The price of Ether reached its previous all-time high of more than $4,870 in August, coinciding with statements from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that hinted at possible adjustments in U.S. monetary policy.
