The Ethereum Foundation completed its third over-the-counter ETH sale to BitMine Immersion Technologies, transferring another 10,000 ETH at an average price of $2,292 per coin, representing approximately $22.9 million.
“This sale funds the Ethereum Foundation’s core operations and activities, including protocol research and development, ecosystem development, crowdfunding for grants, and more” – Foundation he wrote in Friday’s post on X.
The sale follows an almost identical 10,000 ETH transaction completed just a week earlier at a price of $2,387 per coin. The Foundation’s first sale to BitMine took place in March, when 5,000 ETH was sold at a price of approximately $2,043. In total, last week alone, the Foundation sold approximately $47 million worth of ETH to BitMine.
Ethereum Foundation sells 10,000 ETH. Source: Ethereum Foundation
The move also comes after the foundation failed to stake 17,035 ETH worth approximately $40 million last week, apparently abandoning its stated goal of 70,000 ETH staked.
Related: These 3 Ethereum indicators support the raise in the ETH price to 6,000. dollars
EF under scrutiny regarding the sale of ETH
The repeated sales were met with criticism from the community. “Why do you need $46 million in 2 weeks?! How much do you burn and why? Why doesn’t any of the creators take ETH directly as payment?!” one user he wrote in response to the advertisement.
The foundation has come under scrutiny before over its ETH sales, at one point last year he said there were plans to limit them. He has since decided to offset some of that pressure by investing some of his shares.
According to CoinMarketCap data, ETH is currently trading at around $2,303, largely unchanged over the past day. However, the token is down more than 53% from its all-time high of $4,953 recorded last August.
Related: Ether treasuries need a liquid edge to beat ETFs, says Lido executive
BitMine is approaching 5 million ETH
BitMine, chaired by Tom Lee, is the largest Ethereum treasury company by holdings, with almost 5 million ETH on its books. The milestone was reached after the company added 101,901 ETH in its largest weekly purchase of the year.
The company has also been aggressively investing in its holdings, accounting for 83% of accumulated ETH, or approximately 4.19 million coins worth approximately $9.5 billion, currently placed as of Thursday, down from about 70% the previous week.
