- The Ethereum Foundation’s $43 million ETH sale has applied short-term pressure on prices, with ETH slipping to $4,321.
- However, institutional demand has driven staking queues to a two-year high of 860,369 ETH, signaling strong long-term confidence in the network.
Ethereum, currently trading in the red zone is facing renewed pressure this week after the Ethereum Foundation announced that it would liquidating $43 milllion worth of ETH. As per the foundation, this sum would be used to fund ecosystem initiatives.
Meanwhile, a few things have changed in the staking of ETH as demand of staking has surged. This is contrary to late last month’s withdrawal requests which surged to record levels, overshadowing new deposits and raising concerns over the network’s long-term stability.
Ethereum Foundation Confirms $43M ETH Offload
On Tuesday, blockchain data revealed a 10,000 ETH deposit into Kraken, worth around $42.7 million, just hours before the Ethereum Foundation announced its sale plans. The organization confirmed that it will liquidate the funds in smaller tranches through centralized exchanges to minimize market disruption.
According to the Foundation, the proceeds will support research, grants, and philanthropic efforts, continuing its policy of reinvesting treasury holdings into ecosystem growth. Earlier this year, the Foundation allocated $32.65 million to new projects and contributed $1.25 million to the legal defense of Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev.
Despite the sale, the Foundation still holds a treasury of 231,600 ETH, valued near $1 billion, making it the fourth-largest public holder of Ethereum. These recurring disposals have raised concerns among traders, as previous sales, including a 4,000 ETH offload worth $19 million in August and a 1,000 ETH transfer in April, were followed by price dips.
The market’s response was cautious, with ETH slipping 1% to $4,321 over the past 24 hours, underperforming the broader crypto market. Analysts also cited declining inflows into spot ETH ETFs, along with broader risk-off sentiment spilling over from Bitcoin liquidations, as factors weighing on Ethereum’s price.
Staking Queue Hits Two-Year High as Institutions Accumulate
While the Foundation’s sale fueled short-term bearish pressure, staking demand painted a far more optimistic picture. On the same day, Ethereum’s staking entry queue climbed to 860,369 ETH, about $3.7 billion, its highest level since September 2023, according to staking protocol Everstake.
“This is pretty striking,” Everstake commented, noting that queues of this size were last seen after the Shanghai upgrade enabled withdrawals in 2023. The firm attributed the surge to rising network confidence, attractive market conditions with low gas fees, and increasing participation from institutional investors and corporate treasuries.
Ethereum now has 35.7 million ETH staked, worth around $162 billion, representing 31% of the total supply. Meanwhile, the exit queue has retreated 20% from its late August peak of just over 1 million ETH, easing concerns of mass unstaking and potential sell-offs.
Institutional activity continues to expand. Data from StrategicEtherReserve shows that more than 70 treasury participants hold 4.7 million ETH, nearly 4% of the total supply, much of which is staked for yield.
Notably, BitMine recently purchased 153,075 ETH worth $668 million, raising its total holdings to nearly 1.87 million ETH, solidifying its position as the largest Ethereum treasury.
