While recent portfolio shuffles and asset dumps have pointed to old habits, the foundation officially denies any involvement in sales.
summary
- The Ethereum Foundation refused to sell 2,975 ETH from its ICO era wallet.
- The co-executive director said the wallet is no longer under foundation control, despite past connections.
- The ETH Treasury Department of Corporate ETH has surged to over $14 billion, focusing on public companies’ hands.
In a recent X-Post, Ethereum Foundation co-executive director Hsiao-Wei Wang claimed that the foundation was behind the recent sale of $12.8 million ETH (ETH).
“It wasn’t an Ethereum Foundation operation,” she wrote. Wang’s disclaimer saw that on-chain trackers became sensitive to movement-shining movement in their wallets associated with the foundation, selling a total of 2,975 ETH in a two-part transaction.
It was not run by the Ethereum Foundation.
Fun fact: Back in 2014 ICO, around 9% of the ETH supply was allocated to EF. Currently, EF holds less than 0.3% of its total supply. So you can probably find many addresses linked to EF in 10 years. https://t.co/g0umwto4le
– hww.eth | Hsiao-Wei Wang (@hwwonx) August 13, 2025
The wallet is reportedly received ETH in 2017 from another foundation-related address, referring to possible connections to assignments during the ICO era.
Clearing the mix-up, the director noted that the wallet in question was no longer run by the foundation. She explained that approximately 9% of total ETH supply was allocated to the foundation during the 2014 ICO, but its holdings have been significantly reduced over time. Currently, less than 0.3% of the ETH supply is actually kept across the underlying controlled address.
This means that some addresses for that period are in circulation, but does not represent foundation funds. The latest sale was even more noteworthy as the team’s history of ETH dumps falls within a broader sales pattern that has frequently sparked community concerns.
However, new disclosures on the decline in the share of total ETH supply suggest that these sales are part of a deliberate strategy to reduce the impact on the financial footprint and network.
ETH Foundation shrinks as business owners rise
Over the past few months, the foundation has strategically cut its holdings through planned transactions, including a July sale of around 10,000 ETH to public company Sharplink Gaming, which is now the second largest corporate ETH holder. Sales were made directly on the chain, avoiding market disruption.
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The move comes amid a rapid rise in the ETH Treasury ministry, suggesting that the foundation is gradually offloading supply in public companies’ hands. In just a few months, the new class of holders have collected over $14 billion in ETH, focusing on an increased share of network supply in the hands of businesses.
Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, recently warned against the growth trends, describing it as a double-edged sword. He noted that while these public companies can broaden the scope of Ethereum by indirect exposure to mainstream investors, if these holdings change excessively, profits can quickly turn into systematic risk.
Buterin described a scenario where companies actively borrow ETH reserves, leaving them vulnerable to forced liquidation during recession, amplifying market volatility and undermining confidence in Ethereum’s stability.
Meanwhile, Ethereum has been in tears for the past few days. According to data from Crypto.News, ETH is currently trading at $4,776, up about 30% a week, a record high of just 2.35%.
read more: Ethereum prices are approaching before, but Standard Chartered is at $7,500
