Why Is the Ethereum Foundation Cashing Out $49M in ETH Again?

TLDR

• The Ethereum Foundation unstaked over 17,000 ETH worth ~$49 million on Saturday
• Funds were moved via Lido’s unstETH contract and will return as liquid ETH after the withdrawal queue
• The move came just before the Foundation reached its 70,000 ETH staking target
• No official reason was given, sparking speculation the Foundation may sell
• The Foundation recently sold 10,000 ETH over-the-counter to Bitmine Immersion Technologies

The Ethereum Foundation unstaked 17,035 ETH worth approximately $49 million over the weekend, according to on-chain data from Arkham Intelligence. The transactions involved moving wrapped staked ETH (wstETH) into Lido’s unstETH contract in batches of around 811 wstETH each.

Once the Lido withdrawal queue processes, the funds will convert back to liquid ETH. The Foundation has not released a public statement explaining the move.

The timing raised eyebrows. The unstaking happened just as the Foundation was approaching its internal target of 70,000 staked ETH. It had staked around 69,500 Ethereum before the withdrawal, putting it just shy of that goal.

The Foundation only began building its staking position in earnest from February 2026. It started with 2,016 ETH, added 22,517 ETH in March, then staked more than 45,000 ETH earlier this month.

The policy to stake ETH was adopted in June 2025. The stated goal was to earn yield to fund protocol research, development, and ecosystem grants.

Sell-Off Fears Return

The withdrawal has renewed fears of selling pressure. Some community members noted the Foundation has been active in over-the-counter sales recently, including a 10,000 ETH sale to Bitmine Immersion Technologies.

Analysts are watching the $2,300–$2,400 price range for ETH, which they say could act as a key level determining near-term direction.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has previously warned that large-scale staking by the Foundation could create governance complications during contentious hard forks.

DeFi Community Responds to Separate Crisis

Separately, the broader Ethereum DeFi ecosystem is dealing with fallout from a $293 million exploit on the Kelp restaking platform. Hackers stole over 116,000 restaked ETH tokens and used them as collateral to borrow funds, leaving roughly $195 million in bad debt on Aave.

A coalition called “DeFi United,” led by Aave, has pledged over 43,500 ETH (around $101 million) to stabilize rsETH. Participants include Lido DAO, Golem Foundation, EtherFi Foundation, and Mantle.

The Ethereum Foundation’s most recent confirmed on-chain action was the $49 million unstaking event on Saturday, April 26, 2026.

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