BroadChain, April 27 - The Ethereum Foundation (EF) completed an over-the-counter trade on April 24, selling 10,000 ETH at an average price of $2,387, with a total value of approximately $23.87 million. The buyer is BitMine, a company led by Tom Lee. This is EF's third large-scale sale of ETH this year, but the buyer is accumulating at a rate of tens of thousands per week, aiming to reach 5% of the circulating supply. EF chose to sell during the same week as the Kelp vulnerability triggered the largest rescue operation in DeFi history, once again drawing community criticism.
EF disclosed on the X platform that the transaction was completed through a Safe multi-signature address, with funds to be used for protocol development, ecosystem growth, and community grants. Previously, EF sold 5,000 ETH (approximately $10.21 million) to BitMine on March 14, and on April 8, exchanged 5,000 ETH for approximately 11.1 million DAI via CoWSwap's TWAP feature. These three transactions total 20,000 ETH sold, worth about $45.18 million. In 2024, EF sold approximately 4,466 ETH through 32 transactions at an average price of $2,823, earning the nickname "Top Picker" from the community for frequently selling at local highs. The scale of sales in 2026 has significantly escalated, jumping from hundreds of ETH in 2024 to thousands, aligning with EF's treasury management policy released in June 2025, which stipulates annual operating expenses at 15% of the treasury's total value and maintains a 2.5-year fiat operating buffer, automatically triggering ETH sales when fiat reserves fall below the target.
As of April 24, buyer BitMine holds approximately 4.97 million ETH, accounting for 4.12% of the total circulating supply, with total assets of about $12.9 billion, making it the world's largest corporate ETH treasury, second only to Strategy's (formerly MicroStrategy) BTC holdings. In the third week of April, BitMine purchased 101,627 ETH (approximately $230 million) in a single week, the largest weekly purchase since 2026, with a target of holding 5% of the circulating supply (about 6 million ETH), currently about 81% complete. Approximately 3.33 million ETH of this is staked, generating annualized staking income of about $221 million. Tom Lee has been continuously buying when ETH falls below $2,000, stating that ETH is in the "final stage of a mini crypto winter." From a supply structure perspective, EF's 10,000 ETH did not enter the open market but flowed directly to institutions with clear long-term holdings, resulting in zero actual market impact.
EF launched a 70,000 ETH staking plan on February 24, and by April 3, had staked approximately 69,500 ETH, worth about $143 million, generating annualized staking returns of approximately $3.9 million to $5.4 million. The community initially believed this meant EF "no longer needed to sell coins," but EF responded on April 24 that staking returns cannot cover operating costs, and fiat reserves have fallen below the target buffer, necessitating continued ETH sales. EF's treasury is primarily composed of ETH, with price fluctuations directly impacting its budget capacity. EF stated it will explore more sustainable financing models but will not stop ETH sales in the short term.