The organization behind the Ethereum blockchain said the estimated $43 million raised will help it continue to fund research and development and provide Capital for the ecosystem.
Ethereum Foundation will sell 10,000 ETH in September. Photo: The Block
According to the announcement posted in the early morning of September 3, 2025, Ethereum Foundation (EF) - the organization that manages the world's second largest blockchain Ethereum (ETH) - announced to the community about the plan to sell 10,000 ETH (nearly 43 million USD) this September.
The above ETH will be converted into cash by the Ethereum Foundation through centralized exchanges (CEX), in order to have more funds to continue research and development activities, funding and donations within the Ethereum ecosystem.
0/ Transparency Notice: Over several weeks this month, EF will convert 10K ETH via centralized exchanges as part of our ongoing work to fund R&D, grants, and donations.
— Ethereum Foundation (@ethereumfndn) September 2, 2025
Conversions will take place over multiple smaller orders, rather than as a single large transaction.
on-chain data shows that the organization pre-deposited 10,000 ETH onto the Kraken exchange shortly before the announcement.
The #EthereumFoundation deposited 10,000 $ETH ($42.7M) into Kraken 5 hours ago and will sell it to fund R&D, grants, and donations.
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) September 3, 2025
The #EthereumFoundation public wallets currently hold 224.8K $ETH ($1.05B). https://t.co/3V40uW89I4 pic.twitter.com/6Oun17U062
Why is this news important?
- Ethereum Foundation Sells ETH Again: This is the second public ETH sale announced by EF in 2025. Previous sales in late 2024 were heavily criticized by the community for being done quietly , despite the extremely bad price movements of Ethereum at that time.
- EF selling ETH often signals a “peak”: In 2024, the Ethereum Foundation's peak closing rate is up to nearly 50%, meaning that each time this organization sells coins, it is often followed by a drop in ETH prices. As reported by Coin68, Ether in mid-August just reached a new ATH milestone of over $4,950 for the first time in nearly 5 years.
- Ethereum Foundation treasury still has more than 950 million USD: According to on-chaindata , EF still holds more than 199,000 ETH and other ETH Derivative with a total value of 951 million USD. The organization's spending in 2022 and 2023 is 105 and 135 million USD respectively, so it can be seen that each year Ethereum Foundation can spend up to 150 million USD, which means there is only enough money to operate for more than 4 years.
- Reform efforts in 2025: Since the credibility crisis in late 2024 and early 2025, the Ethereum Foundation has made many moves showing its commitment to change , including replacing leaders , streamlining operations , and optimizing budgets by using DeFi.
- Only Ethereum Foundation publicly discloses ETH sale plans: Compared to other major blockchain Foundations, only Ethereum publicly discloses its treasury liquidation activities and wallet addresses , leading to their every action being scrutinized.
Community Questions How Ethereum Foundation's Funds Are Used
- Why not use DeFi: This is the most asked question in the community under the Ethereum Foundation's announcement. Instead of selling ETH right at the top, the organization can deposit assets into DeFi protocols like AAVE, collateralize them, and borrow stablecoins to cover operating costs, which they did earlier this year when they allocated up to 45,000 ETH to AAVE, Spark, and Compound to earn interest on deposits. The organization's new budget policy also mentions the use of DeFi, but since the beginning of 2025, there has been no new activity.
- Why sell on CEX exchange: If you need quick cash but still want to limit the impact on price, Ethereum Foundation can also look to OTC units to trade, but they do not choose this and still follow the old way of withdrawing liquidation directly from the market.
- Why not sell to crypto treasury companies: Another point that has been mentioned by many people is why the Ethereum Foundation did not go to the treasury companies that have been buying a lot of ETH recently to trade, similar to what they did when they sold 10,000 ETH to SharpLink in July.
For comparison, in the past week , the two leading Ethereum treasury companies, BitMine and SharpLink, bought an additional 192,600 ETH, equivalent to $845 million. Even a Bitcoin whale that has been dormant for the past 7 years has "turned Capital" to $4 billion into Ethereum in recent weeks.
Evidence
Statistics of assets in the Ethereum Foundation treasury, screenshot of Arkham at 08:35 AM on 03/09/2025
List of organizations holding the most ETH . Source: Strategic Ethereum Reserve (09/02/2025)
ETH price in the past hours has shown signs of adjusting back to the $4,250 zone, losing recovery momentum after the Ethereum Foundation's announcement of coin sales.
ETH price movement in the last 24 hours, screenshot from CoinGecko at 08:40 AM on 03/09/2025
Coin68 synthesis
