TLDR
- Ethereum Foundation said it would convert 5000 ETH into stablecoins on April 8.
- The foundation had already sold 5000 ETH to BitMine in an OTC deal on March 14.
- Ethereum Foundation said on February 24 that it would stake 70000 ETH.
- Annual yield from 70000 staked ETH stays below the value of one 5000 ETH sale.
- The treasury policy keeps a fiat buffer, so ETH sales remain part of funding.
Ethereum Foundation is still selling ETH after telling the market it would stake 70,000 coins. Its April 8 move revived a debate that had eased in recent months. The debate centers on whether staking was meant to reduce treasury sales.
The foundation said it would convert 5,000 ETH into stablecoins through CoWSwap’s TWAP feature. It said the funds would support research, grants, and donations. Yet the move showed that staking and ETH sales are still running together.
Treasury sales continue beside staking plans
The Ethereum Foundation announced its staking plan on February 24. It said it would stake 70,000 ETH and send rewards back to the treasury. That message led some traders to expect less direct selling.
Still, the transaction record told a broader story. On March 14, the foundation completed a 5,000 ETH OTC sale to BitMine. The average sale price was $2,042.96.
Then, on April 8, the foundation announced another 5,000 ETH conversion. This time, it used CoWSwap’s TWAP feature for the sale. So, the foundation sold ETH twice after launching its staking push.
By April 3, on-chain activity showed about 69,500 ETH already staked. That placed the program close to its public target. Even so, the new sale made clear that staking did not replace monetization.
DeFi tools gave flexibility but not a full substitute
The foundation had already expanded its treasury tools before staking started. On February 13, 2025, it deployed 45,000 ETH across Spark, Aave Prime, Aave Core, and Compound. Later, on May 29, it borrowed $2 million in GHO against its Aave position.
That borrowing mattered because it raised working capital without an immediate spot sale. As a result, some retail users thought the old pattern had changed. A Reddit post said the foundation was “no longer selling.”
Another commenter wrote, “it’s good that they stopped selling.” However, the foundation’s own policy did not promise that outcome. Instead, it kept sales, staking, and borrowing inside one treasury system.
The June 2025 treasury policy tied funding to a fiat-denominated operating buffer. Under that setup, treasury managers still need cash reserves in dollar terms. So, DeFi borrowing and staking can help, but they do not remove the need to sell ETH.
Staking income remains smaller than treasury spending needs
At an ETH price near $2,220.76, a 5,000 ETH conversion equals about $11.1 million. Early April reference staking rates ranged from 2.73% to 3.00%. Applied to 70,000 ETH, that would produce about 1,912 to 2,102 ETH per year.
At current prices, that annual yield is worth about $4.25 million to $4.67 million. One 5,000 ETH sale is still about 2.4 to 2.6 times that yearly yield. So, the income from staking stays well below one recent treasury sale.
The gap looks wider when spending is added. The foundation’s allocation update showed $32.6 million in grants during the first quarter of 2025. At today’s ETH price, that equals roughly 14,700 ETH.
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