The Ethereum Foundation has initiated another major treasury move, withdrawing 21,270 ETH from Lido, according to blockchain analytics firm Arkham. At current prices, the amount is worth nearly $50 million. The funds have been moved into Ethereum’s withdrawal queue, where they remain locked until the unstaking process is completed.
Under Ethereum’s proof-of-stake model, validators lock ETH on the Beacon Chain to secure the network and earn yield. When an unstaking request is submitted through Lido, users first receive a withdrawal claim, and the ETH becomes redeemable only after the exit queue clears.
Recent treasury actions have drawn closer scrutiny
This is not the first such move in recent months. In late April, the foundation unstaked 17,035 ETH shortly after reaching an internal target of roughly 70,000 staked ETH. Arkham data at the time showed foundation-linked wallets depositing wrapped staked ETH into Lido’s unstETH contract, though the organization did not publicly explain the transaction.
Attention around the treasury intensified after the nonprofit completed an OTC sale to BitMine on May 1. In that deal, the foundation sold 10,000 ETH at an average price of $2,292 per ETH. Combined with two earlier OTC sales to BitMine in March and April, its recent ETH sales total reached 25,000 ETH.
In a statement issued alongside the May transaction, the foundation said the proceeds would support “core operations and activities,” including protocol research, ecosystem development, and community grants.
Staking policy changed, but treasury adjustments continue
After earlier criticism over ETH sales, the Ethereum Foundation revised its treasury policy in June 2025. It said greater staking participation could help fund long-term development while reducing reliance on direct market sales.
Since February, the foundation has steadily increased its staking exposure. It first staked 2,016 ETH, then added 22,517 ETH in March. In early April, it staked more than 45,000 ETH, bringing the total to around 69,500 ETH before the first large withdrawal took place.
Arkham said the latest unstaking activity may be linked to funding needs tied to ongoing network work. The analytics firm also pointed to growing concern over third-party protocol risk after the $293 million Kelp DAO exploit involving rsETH-linked assets.
Recovery efforts tied to that incident are still underway. Earlier reports said Aave was coordinating support with Lido DAO, the EtherFi Foundation, Mantle, and other groups after more than 116,000 restaked ETH tokens were affected.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has also warned in the past about governance risks tied to large-scale foundation staking, especially during disputed hard forks and in cases where the organization becomes too deeply involved in validator participation.
Grant funding remains directed at core infrastructure and ZK work
Separate from its treasury activity, the foundation has continued to allocate grants across protocol infrastructure, zero-knowledge research, validator security, and developer tooling. Its Q1 2026 allocation report listed support for execution clients including Geth and Erigon, upgrades related to the Lighthouse consensus client, validator security systems such as Vero, and node discovery work through DISC-NG.
Other grants covered Poseidon hash analysis, research into algebraic attack vectors affecting ZK systems, quantum-resistant cryptography, and formal verification connected to RISC-V-based zkVM infrastructure.
On the developer side, funding also went to WalletConnect clear-signing libraries, L2BEAT analytics tools, ERC ecosystem initiatives, DAO governance research, decentralized identity standards, and privacy tools including Privacy Pool integrations and Tor-related work.
The foundation also recently confirmed progress on Ethereum’s upcoming “Glamsterdam” update after setting a 200 million gas floor. Earlier reporting said that change could materially increase throughput compared with Ethereum’s current 60 million gas environment.