Ethereum Foundation Unstakes 21,270 ETH as Treasury Activities Capture Interest

The Ethereum Foundation has removed over 21,000 ETH from Lido staking, following previous unstaking operations and several OTC treasury transactions linked to operational funding.

Blockchain analytics platform Arkham reported that a wallet associated with the Ethereum Foundation initiated the withdrawal of 21,270 ETH on Monday, valued at nearly $50 million at current market rates. This transaction shifted the funds from Lido’s liquid staking system into Ethereum’s withdrawal queue, where staked ETH remains locked until the unstaking is finalized.

Within Ethereum’s proof-of-stake framework, validators stake ETH on the Beacon Chain to enhance network security, earning yield in return. Upon submitting an unstaking request via Lido, holders obtain a withdrawal claim before the ETH can be redeemed once the queue is cleared.

Earlier in late April, the Foundation unstaked 17,035 ETH shortly after reaching its internal goal of approximately 70,000 staked ETH. Arkham’s data indicated that the organization had deposited wrapped staked ETH into Lido’s unstETH contract, although the Foundation did not clarify the reasons behind this action.

Concerns about treasury activities grew following the Foundation’s sale of 10,000 ETH to BitMine in an OTC transaction finalized on May 1. This deal, valued at an average of $2,292 per ETH, followed two previous OTC transactions to BitMine in March and April, totaling recent sales at 25,000 ETH.

In a statement concurrent with the May transaction, the Ethereum Foundation noted that the sale would finance “core operations and activities,” which include protocol research, ecosystem development, and community grants.

Treasury adjustments continue as staking policy evolves

In response to criticism regarding past ETH sales, the Foundation amended its treasury policy in June 2025, asserting that enhanced staking participation would better support long-term development funding while diminishing reliance on direct market sales.

Since February, the organization has gradually increased its staking position, first staking 2,016 ETH, followed by 22,517 ETH in March, and adding over 45,000 ETH in early April, raising the total staked balance to roughly 69,500 ETH before the first major withdrawal occurred.

Arkham noted that the recent unstaking activity may be linked to funding needs for ongoing network projects. The analytics provider also pointed to growing concerns regarding third-party protocol risks following the $293 million Kelp DAO exploit involving rsETH-linked assets.

Simultaneously, various segments of Ethereum’s DeFi ecosystem are pursuing recovery initiatives associated with the exploit. Earlier reports indicated that Aave is coordinating support with Lido DAO, EtherFi Foundation, Mantle, and other entities after over 116,000 restaked ETH tokens were impacted.

Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum’s co-founder, has previously expressed concerns about governance risks stemming from large-scale foundation staking during contentious hard forks, particularly if the organization becomes excessively involved in validator participation.

Foundation funding remains focused on infrastructure and ZK research

In conjunction with treasury activities, the Ethereum Foundation continues to allocate grants toward protocol infrastructure, zero-knowledge research, validator security, and developer tools.

The Q1 2026 allocation report outlined support for execution clients such as Geth and Erigon, upgrades related to the Lighthouse consensus client, validator security systems like Vero, and node discovery initiatives via DISC-NG.

Additional grants addressed Poseidon hash analysis, research into algebraic attack vectors affecting ZK systems, quantum-resistant cryptography, and formal verification linked to RISC-V-based zkVM infrastructure.

Funding aimed at developers also supported WalletConnect clear-signing libraries, L2BEAT analytics tools, ERC ecosystem initiatives, DAO governance research, decentralized identity standards, and privacy tools, including Privacy Pool integrations and work related to Tor.

Separately, the Foundation recently announced advancements linked to Ethereum’s forthcoming “Glamsterdam” update, having set a 200 million gas limit floor. Earlier reports from crypto.news indicated that this change could significantly enhance throughput from Ethereum’s current 60 million gas limit environment.