Ethereum Foundation Sells 5,000 ETH Despite Staking Program
TLDR
The Ethereum Foundation converted 5,000 ETH to the stablecoin on April 8th via CoWSwap, worth approximately $11.1M.
The March OTC sale of 5,000 ETH at $2,042.96 for BitMine shows that the stock has been moving for weeks.
The annual stock yield from 70,000 ETH is only about 33% of EF's first quarter 2025 grant cost.
EF's fiat-denominated reserve target means a weaker ETH price may force more monetization, not less.
The Ethereum Foundation's ETH sale continues alongside the 70,000 ETH stake program, contradicting widely held market belief that the stake has halted direct Treasury loading.
On April 8th, the foundation converted 5,000 ETH worth about $11.1 million into the stablecoin via CoWSwap. The move re-opened a wider debate about whether collecting rewards and DeFi borrowing could completely replace the need to sell ETH.
Direct ETH sales replaced by staking
The Ethereum Foundation's ETH sales returned to the spotlight after the foundation announced on April 8 that it had converted 5,000 ETH into the stablecoin. The transaction was conducted through CoWSwap's TWAP feature for research, grants and donations.
At an ETH price close to $2,220.76, the conversion amounted to approximately $11.1 million. The announcement followed a separate 5,000 ETH OTC sale to BitMine on March 14, at an average price of $2,042.96.
On April 3, on-chain data showed that the stake totaled about 69,500 ETH, which is close to the 70,000 ETH target. So selling and selling had been going on side by side for weeks before the April announcement.
A Reddit post in early April argued that the foundation was “no longer for sale,” with commenters seeing the change in process as a positive change. The April 8 conversion came soon after, directly contradicting that view.
Market expectations have moved well beyond what the foundation's written Treasury policy promised.
Based on the reference rate of 2.73% to 3.00% at the beginning of April, the foundation's staking program generates an estimated 1,912 to 2,102 ETH annually. At current rates, that would be between $4.25 million and $4.67 million per year.
A sale of 5,000 ETH is approximately 2.4 to 2.6 times the total annual production.
A treasury structure puts monetization on the table.
EF's own data records $32.6 million in aid for the first quarter of 2025 alone. At the current price of ETH, that figure is equivalent to 14,700 ETH.
The April 8 conversion covers only about 33% of the quarter's funding, excluding research, human resources and extensive operating expenses.
The Foundation's June 2025 treasury framework sets annual operating costs at a 15% treasury and operating buffer with 2.5 years of expenditure. Applied for a Treasury snapshot of $970.2 million in October 2024, the revolving fiat reserve target is about $363.8 million.
Collecting rewards and DeFi lending improve volatility, but regularly fall short of the balance needed to replace ETH sales.
The broader Treasury approach combines DeFi deployment, stablecoin lending, staking, and direct ETH sales from early 2025. On February 13, EF deployed 45,000 ETH on Spark, Aave Prime, Aave Core and Compound.
In May, $2 million was loaned by GHO against Aave's position.
That structure means that a fall in the price of ETH can increase the pressure to sell more coins, not less. The reserve target remains at the fiat level, so price weakness widens the liquidity gap more than output can offset.
The April 8 conversion brought that reality into perspective, confirming that periodic monetization is an integral part of the foundation's treasury toolkit.
