Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has been offloading ETH through CoW Protocol since early February. On-chain data tracker Lookonchain reports that as of Feb 26, his cumulative sales reached 17,196 ETH (approximately $34.96 million), surpassing the 16,384 ETH plan he announced on Jan 30 by 812 tokens (about $1.56 million).
February Sell-Off Timeline: From Plan to Overshoot
On Jan 30, Vitalik said he would withdraw 16,384 ETH (then worth ~$45 million) from his personal wallet to fund "open-source, secure, verifiable full-stack software and hardware" development. Starting Feb 2, he used decentralized exchange aggregator CoW Protocol to sell in batches—converting ETH to WETH then to GHO stablecoin, each transaction around 70 ETH—to minimize market impact.
The first major wave in early February saw 6,958 ETH (~$14.78 million) sold. ETH price dropped from $2,360 to $1,825 during that period, a 22.7% decline. Between Feb 21 and 23, Vitalik accelerated sales, dumping ~3,765 ETH (~$7.08 million) in 2.5 days as ETH slid from $1,988 to $1,875. On Feb 22 alone, he withdrew 3,500 ETH from Aave. On Feb 25, another 675.88 ETH (~$1.25 million) was sold, pushing the monthly total past 17,000 ETH.
ETH Crashes 37% in a Month; Community Questions Timing
Vitalik's concentrated selling coincided with a severe ETH price rout. Over the past month, ETH fell from the $2,800 range to around $1,900, a 37% decline. Although Vitalik has repeatedly stated the sales are for public goods and ecosystem research, the founder's decision to keep selling during a price downturn has drawn widespread criticism.
The tracked wallet balance has dropped from 241,000 ETH at the start of the month to roughly 224,000 ETH. Meanwhile, the Ethereum Foundation launched a DeFi team called "DeFipunk" on Feb 23, aiming to regain a strong presence in the DeFi space. Reports also note that Vitalik sold another $1.4 million worth of ETH in the past 24 hours and still has 5,000 tokens left to dump.