The Ethereum Foundation decided to withdraw part of its staking position shortly after reaching its goal of 70,000 staked ETH.
On Saturday, the Ethereum Foundation set aside 17,035.326 ETH worth approximately $40 million, According to to Arkham data. The move involved depositing wrapped staked ETH (wstETH) into Lido’s unstETH contract, with the expectation that the ETH would be returned once the payout queue ends.
In Ethereum, unstaking is the process of withdrawing ETH that has been previously locked to aid secure the network with validators. Once ETH is staked, it is deposited into the Ethereum Beacon Chain, where it remains locked while earning rewards. To withdraw a stake, a withdrawal request is initiated and the funds are placed in a queue and released.
The Ethereum Foundation has not yet revealed why it set aside 17,000 ETH, leading some users to speculate that it may be preparing to sell. “The biggest seller of ETH is still the people who created ETH” – one user he wrote.
Related: Another DeFi protocol hacked after Sui-based Volo was hit with a $3.5 million exploit
The Ethereum Foundation is approaching its goal of 70,000. ETH
EF began staking ETH following an update to its policy in June 2025. At the time, the Foundation stated that staking and decentralized financial participation would aid fund protocol research, development, and ecosystem grants.
Since February, the foundation has steadily expanded its position, initially staking 2,016 ETH and then 22,517 ETH in March. Earlier this month, the foundation staked over 45,000 ETH in a series of trades, bringing the total to approximately 69,500 ETH, just shy of its internal goal of 70,000 ETH.
However, concerns remain about management risks. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin did just that warned that large-scale foundation participation could complicate neutrality during potential controversial tough forks where competing networks could emerge.
Related: Ethereum Risks 10% Downside to Bitcoin Despite ETH Staking Milestone
DeFi protocols unite to support rsETH
As Cointelegraph reports, decentralized finance protocols have joined forces to stabilize rsETH after a $293 million exploit on the Kelp Retaking platform caused market disruptions. The incident involved hackers stealing over 116,000 re-stakeable ETH tokens and using them as collateral to borrow funds, leaving approximately $195 million in bad debt on Aave and burdening the broader DeFi lending market.
Backers contributed over 43,500 ETH (approximately $101 million) in the coordinated “DeFi United” effort led by Aave, with participation from Lido DAO, Golem Foundation, and core support from EtherFi Foundation and Mantle.
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