The Ethereum Foundation has started another large on-chain treasury move. Arkham data shows it deposited 21,269 wstETH into Lido’s unstETH contract to begin the unstaking process, an amount valued at roughly $48.9 million based on the ETH price referenced in the source.
The transaction sequence took place between April 24 and 25. The foundation first swapped 21,269 aWETH into wstETH, then sent the wstETH into Lido’s unstETH contract to initiate withdrawal. The process was carried out through Lido Finance and Mellow Protocol, with the source saying it should take around 1 to 5 days before the equivalent ETH is returned.
Foundation Says the Move Is for Deleveraging
The Ethereum Foundation later confirmed the transaction on its official X account and said the purpose was “deleveraging”. Using the cited ETH market price of about $2,317, the unstaking position comes to approximately $48.9 million.
The timing has drawn attention because the foundation had just confirmed an over-the-counter sale of 10,000 ETH two days earlier. That deal was executed at an average price of $2,387 per ETH, with active institutional whale Bitmine identified as the counterparty. The total transaction value was about $23.87 million, and the foundation said the proceeds would be used entirely for protocol research and ecosystem grants.
Market Watches Whether More ETH Sales Follow
Interpretations of the latest move are split. Critics argue the foundation sold into a sensitive period when ETH was struggling to break above the $2,400 resistance level, raising fresh questions about whether treasury actions are weighing on price momentum. Others read the OTC structure differently, saying institutional buyers taking size off-market is not the same as retail-driven selling on exchanges.
The immediate focus is whether the soon-to-be-unlocked 21,269 ETH will become the basis for another OTC deal or a sale in the open market. The source does not provide an answer, but the transaction has put the foundation’s next treasury step under close watch.
Treasury Policy Points to Staking Income as Core Funding Source
According to the source, the Ethereum Foundation released a new treasury policy framework in June 2025. The stated goal was to shift from funding operations through token sales to covering expenses through staking yield. Under that framework, annual spending should not exceed 15% of holdings, while at least 2.5 years of operating runway is to be maintained.
Based on its current staking scale, the foundation’s annual staking income is estimated at between $3.9 million and $5.4 million. Against that backdrop, the latest unstaking move and the recent OTC sale have sharpened attention on how the foundation is managing liquidity, treasury reserves, and ecosystem spending.