The organization behind the Ethereum blockchain stated that the estimated amount of $43 million raised will help them continue to fund research and development activities and finance the ecosystem.
According to an announcement released early on September 3, 2025, the Ethereum Foundation (EF) – the organization managing the world's second-largest blockchain Ethereum (ETH) – announced to the community about its plan to sell 10,000 ETH (nearly $43 million) this September.

The amount of ETH will be converted into cash by the Ethereum Foundation through centralized exchanges (CEX) to have more funds to continue research and development activities, funding, and donations within the Ethereum ecosystem.

On-chain data shows that this organization had already deposited 10,000 ETH on the Kraken exchange just before the announcement was made.

Why is this news important?

- Ethereum Foundation sells ETH again: This is the second public ETH sale transaction announced by EF in 2025. Previous sales at the end of 2024 were heavily criticized by the community, despite the extremely poor price volatility of Ethereum at that time.

- EF selling ETH often signals 'peak': In 2024, the Ethereum Foundation's peak selling ratio was nearly 50%, meaning each time this organization sells coins, it is usually followed by a drop in the price of ETH. As reported by Coin68, the Ether price in mid-August just hit a new ATH above $4,950 for the first time in nearly 5 years.

- The Ethereum Foundation's treasury has over $950 million: According to on-chain data, EF currently holds more than 199,000 ETH along with other derivative forms of ETH, totaling a value of $951 million. The organization's expenditures in 2022 and 2023 were $105 million and $135 million, respectively, so it can be seen that each year the Ethereum Foundation could spend up to $150 million, which means it only has enough funds to operate for more than 4 more years.

- Efforts for reform in 2025: Since the trust crisis at the end of 2024 and the beginning of 2025, the Ethereum Foundation has taken many steps showing its commitment to change, including leadership replacement, streamlining operations, and optimizing the budget by using DeFi.

- Only the Ethereum Foundation publicly plans to sell ETH: Compared to the foundation organizations of other major blockchains, only Ethereum publicly manages treasury activities and the organization's wallet address, leading to every action of theirs being scrutinized. Researcher @jconorgrogan stated that over the past 10 years, the Ethereum Foundation has raised $2.78 billion from ETH sale transactions.

The community questions how the Ethereum Foundation's money is used

- Why not use DeFi: This is the question that many people in the community have raised under the announcement of the Ethereum Foundation. Instead of selling ETH immediately after reaching its peak, the organization could deposit assets into DeFi protocols like Aave, collateralize them, and then borrow stablecoins to cover operational costs, something they did earlier this year when allocating up to 45,000 ETH to Aave, Spark, and Compound to benefit from interest on deposits. The organization's new budget policy also mentions the use of DeFi, but there have been no new activities since the beginning of 2025.

- Why sell on CEX: If quick cash is needed but still wants to limit price impact, the Ethereum Foundation could also turn to OTC units for trading, but they chose not to do this and instead followed the old method of withdrawing liquidity directly from the market.

- Why not sell to crypto treasury companies: Another point many have raised is why the Ethereum Foundation does not approach treasury companies that have been buying a lot of ETH recently for trading, similar to what they did when selling 10,000 ETH to SharpLink last July.

In comparison, last week, the two leading Ethereum treasury companies, BitMine and SharpLink, purchased an additional 192,600 ETH, equivalent to $845 million. Even Bitcoin whales that had been inactive for 7 years have 'rotated funds' into Ethereum amounting to $4 billion in recent weeks.

Supporting data


Statistics of the assets in the Ethereum Foundation's treasury, screenshot from Arkham at 08:35 AM on 03/09/2025

The list of organizations holding the most ETH. Source: Strategic Ethereum Reserve (02/09/2025)

ETH price in recent hours has shown signs of adjusting back to the $4,250 range, losing recovery momentum after the Ethereum Foundation's coin sale announcement.

ETH price volatility in the last 24 hours, screenshot from CoinGecko at 08:40 AM on 03/09/2025