Key Takeaways
- Over 17,000 ETH valued at roughly $49 million was unstaked by the Ethereum Foundation this past Saturday
- The withdrawal occurred through Lido’s unstETH contract and will become liquid following the withdrawal queue completion
- This action happened right before the Foundation achieved its 70,000 ETH staking milestone
- The organization has not provided any official explanation, triggering market speculation about potential sales
- A recent 10,000 ETH over-the-counter transaction with Bitmine Immersion Technologies was also conducted by the Foundation
The nonprofit organization responsible for Ethereum’s development withdrew 17,035 ETH—approximately $49 million—during the weekend, blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence confirmed. The withdrawal was executed by transferring wrapped staked ETH (wstETH) into Lido’s unstETH contract through multiple transactions, each containing roughly 811 wstETH.
After Lido’s withdrawal queue completes processing, these assets will be converted into liquid ETH. The Foundation has remained silent on the rationale behind this significant move.
The decision’s timing has generated considerable attention. The unstaking operation took place precisely as the Foundation neared its self-imposed objective of 70,000 staked ETH. Prior to the withdrawal, approximately 69,500 Ethereum had been staked, leaving the Foundation just steps away from reaching that benchmark.
The Foundation’s serious commitment to building a staking position only began in February 2026. Initially staking 2,016 ETH, the organization added 22,517 ETH during March, followed by more than 45,000 ETH staked earlier this month.
The decision to implement a staking strategy was formalized in June 2025. The organization’s publicly stated objective was generating returns to support protocol research initiatives, development efforts, and ecosystem grant programs.
Market Worries About Potential Liquidations
This unstaking event has reignited anxiety about downward price pressure. Several community observers have pointed out the Foundation’s recent involvement in over-the-counter transactions, including a notable 10,000 ETH sale to Bitmine Immersion Technologies.
“The largest ETH seller remains the very entity that created ETH,” commented one community member.
Market observers are closely monitoring the $2,300–$2,400 price zone for ETH, identifying it as a critical threshold that could determine short-term market trajectory.
Ethereum co-creator Vitalik Buterin has previously cautioned that significant staking positions held by the Foundation might introduce governance challenges during controversial hard fork situations.
DeFi Sector Addresses Unrelated Security Incident
In a separate development, Ethereum’s decentralized finance sector is managing consequences from a $293 million security breach affecting the Kelp restaking protocol. Attackers extracted more than 116,000 restaked ETH tokens, subsequently using them as collateral for borrowing operations, creating approximately $195 million in uncollateralized debt on Aave.
An emergency alliance dubbed “DeFi United,” spearheaded by Aave, has committed over 43,500 ETH (valued at approximately $101 million) toward stabilizing rsETH. Contributing organizations include Lido DAO, Golem Foundation, EtherFi Foundation, and Mantle.
The Ethereum Foundation’s latest verified on-chain transaction was the $49 million unstaking operation executed on Saturday, April 26, 2026.
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