The Ethereum Foundation announced late July 15 that it had completed an over-the-counter (OTC) sale of 5,000 ETH to BitMine (BMNR) at an average price of $2,042.96, totaling roughly $10.22 million. BitMine, currently the largest corporate Ethereum treasury holder globally, now holds an estimated 4,539,563 ETH, representing 3.78% of the total 120 million ETH supply.
ETH traded near $2,095 at the time of writing, showing little volatility alongside Bitcoin.
Proceeds to Fund R&D, Ecosystem Tools, and Community Grants
The Ethereum Foundation stated the OTC proceeds will finance three areas: protocol R&D (core development and upgrades), ecosystem development (critical infrastructure and tooling), and community grants via the Grants program supporting developers and teams.
BitMine Accelerates Toward 5% Supply Target
BitMine has over 3.04 million ETH staked, worth roughly $6 billion at current prices, generating about $174 million in annual staking yield. The company's long-term goal is to control 5% of all ETH supply, and this OTC purchase aligns with that strategy.
Chairman Tom Lee previously cited technical models showing Ethereum's current price action closely correlates with the S&P 500 in fall 2011 (89% correlation) and fall 1987 (93% correlation). He concluded the market is in the late stages of a "mini bear market," with bottoming signals present but no reversal yet.
Over the past three months, the Ethereum Foundation has sold more than 21,000 ETH via OTC, raising over $72 million. BitMine has been ramping up its treasury, adding over 60,000 ETH in a single week and keeping total holdings above 4.535 million.