Ethereum Foundation extends ETH sell-off streak as Bitmine keeps buying the dip

The Ethereum Foundation (EF) continued its selling streak, offloading another 10,000 ETH, worth about $23 million, to Tom Lee’s Bitmine Immersion Technologies on Friday.

Just last week, Bitmine also bought 10,000 ETH from the foundation, valued at about $24 million at the time. In both instances, the EF said it will use the funds to bankroll its long-term roadmap.

Despite the optics of repeated sell-offs, the foundation’s actions appear to follow a structured treasury policy rather than signaling bearish sentiment. Proceeds from the sale are earmarked for core operations, including protocol research, ecosystem development, and community grants.

Bitmine now holds over 4.2% of Ethereum’s total supply

On X, the Ethereum Foundation announced the successful sale to Bitmine: “Today, the Ethereum Foundation finalized the terms of a 10,000 ETH sale at an average price of $2,292.15 via OTC.” It also highlighted that the transaction aligns with their established treasury management policies.

On the other side of the trade, Bitmine has positioned itself as one of Ethereum’s most aggressive institutional accumulators. Bitmine’s latest purchase has brought its accumulated stash to 5,088,386 ETH, effectively locking up 4.2% of the overall ETH supply, bringing the company’s goal of a 5% ownership stake within reach.

Last week, as reported by Cryptopolitan, the company also bought 10,000 ETH at about $2,387 per token. Before that, it had paid roughly $10 million to purchase 5,000 ETH from the Ethereum Foundation last month.

Nonetheless, all these purchases align with Lee’s vision. In August last year, the Bitmine executive reaffirmed their commitment to making more ETH purchases, claiming that the accumulation had created true market scarcity.

More recently, he asserted that the mini-crypto slump could die down, hinting at a potential surge in the value of their holdings and the overall crypto market. So far, Ethereum’s price has surged by over 2% to $2,309.80 following the buys.

For some time now, Bitmine has also been leaning more into staking its ETH to earn yield, with its exposure nearing 70% last week. 

What does the crypto community think of the EF’s Ethereum sales?

Market participants are trying to track the motive behind the Ethereum Foundation’s consecutive sales and how it intends to deploy the capital going forward.

Though it’s fair to say, the rate at which the Ethereum Foundation is selling assets has raised significant concerns among community members. X user Danjiel even remarked, “Why do you need $46m in 2 weeks?! How much are you guys burning and what for? Why is no one from the devs taking ETH directly as payment?!”

Another user, suggesting that the organization had burnt through the entire $24 million it received from Bitmine last week, inquired whether the organization was struggling to pay its executives’ salaries.

One commenter also drew parallels with Bitcoin and MicroStrategy, stating that if they were to follow the EF’s trend, it would doom the crypto market. Similarly, one said the platform’s decision to sell to Bitmine could cause Ethereum to plummet by as much as 15%.

Additionally, some noted that at the current burn rate, if EF continues to sell, they could soon run out of Ethereum to sell. On the other hand, some X users have taken the sale more lightly. One contended that, since the sale was over the counter, its influence on the market would be negligible. 

This is not the first time the crypto community has raised questions about the foundation’s Ethereum sell-offs. Last year, however, the foundation reassured users they intended to sell its reserves more carefully.

It claimed it wanted to keep “short-term operations aligned with long-term strategy.” Thus, it planned to channel more capital into DeFi protocols and expand its staking ETH activity.

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