Ethereum Foundation unstakes $48.9M ETH

The Ethereum Foundation began withdrawing 17,035 Ether from staking on Saturday, trimming a position it had just built toward a 70,000-Ether target. (cointelegraph.com) The withdrawal went through Lido, where the foundation deposited wrapped staked Ether into the unstETH contract to start the exit queue. (cointelegraph.com) At Ethereum’s April 26 closing price of $2,369.73, the 17,035.326 Ether was worth about $40.4 million. Some market trackers cited a higher figure near $48.9 million using different pricing snapshots. (coinmarketcap.com) (cryptobriefing.com) Staking is the system that locks up Ether to help run Ethereum’s validator network in exchange for yield. Unstaking does not make the coins liquid immediately; the Ether is released only after the withdrawal queue clears. (cointelegraph.com) The timing stands out because the foundation had spent the past two months ramping up staking. It first deployed about 2,016 Ether in February, then 22,517 Ether in March, and added another roughly $93 million worth in early April to reach its 70,000-Ether goal. (cointelegraph.com) (coindesk.com) That staking campaign came out of the foundation’s June 4, 2025 treasury policy, which said it would increasingly use staking and decentralized finance while managing liquidity, risk and operating runway. (blog.ethereum.org) The policy set current targets at annual operating expenses equal to 15% of treasury and a 2.5-year buffer, with ETH sales and reserves reviewed against market conditions. (blog.ethereum.org) The broader market backdrop was mixed. Farside’s data shows U.S. spot Ether exchange-traded funds recorded a net $75.9 million outflow on April 23, followed by a smaller $23.4 million inflow on April 24. (farside.co.uk) The foundation has not publicly explained this specific unstake. Cointelegraph reported that the move revived trader speculation that some of the Ether could be prepared for sale once withdrawals settle. (cointelegraph.com) Vitalik Buterin has previously argued that large-scale foundation staking can create neutrality problems in a contentious hard fork, where institutions may be forced to back one chain over another. (cointelegraph.com) For now, the clearest fact is narrower than the market chatter: after racing to stake nearly 70,000 Ether, the Ethereum Foundation has started pulling 17,035 Ether back out. (cointelegraph.com)