Ethereum Foundation to Sell $34M in ETH for Ecosystem Building

The ETF’s announcement was made as other players are increasing exposure: Yunfeng Financial Group bought 10,000 ETH, and Ether Machine secured 150,000 ETH ahead of a Nasdaq listing. Meanwhile, BitMine Immersion Technologies is the largest corporate ETH holder with close to 1.9 million ETH, which is valued at more than $8.1 billion, alongside $635 million in cash and Bitcoin holdings. The news boosted BitMine’s stock, which has gained over 40% in the past month. ARK Invest also expanded its stake in the company and chairman Tom Lee recently reiterated his bullish views on Ethereum’s long-term outlook.

Ethereum Foundation to Trim Holdings Again

The Ethereum Foundation (EF) revealed plans to sell roughly $43 million worth of Ethereum (ETH) as part of its strategy to fund ecosystem growth, research, development, and donations. In a post on X, the foundation said it will convert 10,000 ETH, which was valued at around $4,342 per token at the time of the announcement, using centralized exchanges over several weeks. EF clarified that the sale would be executed through multiple smaller orders rather than a single large transaction to limit any potential market disruption.

This move was announced shortly after EF temporarily paused its open grant applications to revamp the process. By the first quarter of 2025, the foundation already distributed over $32 million in grants, with allocations spanning education, community initiatives, and research. The group also implemented a treasury policy in June that outlined its approach to Ethereum sales, including periodic evaluations of fiat reserves and calculated decisions on how much ETH should be sold in a given quarter. 

Since then, EF has sold about $25 million in Ethereum to SharpLink Gaming and conducted additional sales totaling $12.7 million across two separate transactions. The foundation’s history of ETH sales includes a big December 2020 liquidation of 100,000 ETH, which coincided with Ethereum’s run to new all-time highs in the following months.

While EF is trimming its holdings to sustain its operations, other players are making moves in the opposite direction. Yunfeng Financial Group disclosed that it bought 10,000 ETH in the open market on the same day, while Ether Machine announced it secured 150,000 ETH to build a corporate treasury ahead of a planned Nasdaq listing. Ether Machine’s total ETH holdings now includes more than 345,000 tokens, valued at around $1.5 billion. 

Meanwhile, bullish sentiment around Ethereum is also building. Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin suggested that Wall Street’s adoption of staking and decentralized infrastructure could push ETH to surpass Bitcoin as a monetary base. Additionally, after hints from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell about adjusting US interest rate policy, ETH surged more than 23% in the last month, and was trading hands at $4,334 at the time of writing.

ETH’s price action over the past month (Source: CoinMarketCap)

BitMine Reveals $8B Ethereum Treasury

BitMine Immersion Technologies turned itself into the largest corporate holder of Ethereum, with a treasury totaling nearly 1.9 million ETH, worth over $8.1 billion at current market prices. The Bitcoin mining company, which now also runs an ETH treasury, disclosed on Tuesday that it holds 1,866,974 ETH, alongside 192 Bitcoin and more than $635 million in unencumbered cash. 

BitMine treasury holdings growth (Source: BitMine)

Altogether, BitMine’s capital amounts to roughly $8.98 billion, giving it a commanding lead over other corporate Ethereum holders. According to data from the Strategic ETH Reserve, the second-largest corporate treasury is SharpLink Gaming, which currently holds around 837.23K ETH, worth approximately $3.64 billion.

Top ETH reserve companies (Source: Strategic ETH Reserve)

The market reacted positively to BitMine’s announcement, with shares trading at $44.13 after a 1.12% increase on the day, according to Google Finance. The company’s stock also surged by close to 41% in the past month, climbing from $31.13 on Aug. 4. 

The strong performance comes on the back of aggressive treasury-building by the firm. Earlier in August, BitMine added 373,000 ETH to its holdings in just one week, even as its shares dipped by more than 14% during that period.

BitMine’s momentum also attracted the attention of major institutional investors. Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest added another $15.6 million worth of BitMine shares last month, bringing its total investment in the company to more than $300 million. Fundstrat’s Tom Lee, who also serves as BitMine’s chairman, said in late August that Ethereum’s price was approaching a bottom, even though the token slipped about 2.5% since then.