Ethereum Foundation Completes Third OTC Sale to BitMine Offloading $47 Million in ETH in One Week

[AIcash]

The Ethereum Foundation has completed its third over-the-counter sale of ETH to BitMine Immersion Technologies, selling another 10,000 ETH at an average price of $2,292 per coin for approximately $22.9 million. The sale follows a nearly identical 10,000 ETH transaction completed just one week earlier at $2,387 per coin, and a 5,000 ETH sale in March at around $2,043. Combined, the Foundation has sold approximately $47 million worth of ETH to BitMine in the past week alone, with total sales to the company across all three transactions reaching roughly $69 million. The Foundation stated the proceeds fund core operations including protocol research and development, ecosystem development, and community grant funding.
The timing and pace of the sales have generated significant community criticism. One user publicly questioned why the Foundation needed $46 million in two weeks, asking what the capital was being spent on and why developers were not accepting ETH directly as payment.

The Foundation has faced similar scrutiny over its ETH sales previously and at one point last year announced plans to limit them, subsequently moving toward staking a portion of its holdings to generate yield as an alternative funding mechanism. The latest sales come after the Foundation also unstaked 17,035 ETH worth approximately $40 million last week, apparently stepping back from its previously stated goal of maintaining 70,000 staked ETH. ETH is currently trading around $2,303, down more than 53% from its all-time high of $4,953 registered last August.

[nihalsari]

The Foundation unstaking 17,035 ETH while walking back its 70,000 staked ETH target in the same week it sold $47 million OTC suggests a treasury management posture that prioritizes operational liquidity over the yield and supply-reduction benefits of staking, which is a different set of priorities than the public communications implied.