The Ethereum Foundation has partially unwound its staking position shortly after almost reaching its internal target of 70,000 staked ETH.
On Saturday the foundation unstaked 17,035.326 ETH — roughly $40 million — according to Arkham data. The transaction involved depositing wrapped staked ETH (wstETH) into Lido’s unstETH contract; the foundation expects ETH to be returned once the withdrawal queue completes.
Unstaking on Ethereum is the process of withdrawing ETH previously locked to secure the network via validators. When ETH is staked on the Beacon Chain it remains locked while earning rewards; a withdrawal request moves funds into a queue, and they are released after the queue completes.
The foundation has not explained why it unstaked 17,000 ETH, prompting speculation that it could be preparing to sell. One user commented that “the biggest seller of ETH continues to be the people who created ETH.”
The EF began staking after updating its policy in June 2025, stating staking and participation in decentralized finance would help fund protocol research, development and ecosystem grants. Since February the foundation steadily expanded its position: it staked 2,016 ETH initially, added 22,517 ETH in March, and earlier this month staked more than 45,000 ETH in a series of transactions, bringing the total to roughly 69,500 ETH — just under the 70,000 ETH target.
Concerns remain about governance risks from large-scale staking. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has cautioned that the foundation’s substantial stake could complicate neutrality during contentious hard forks, when competing chains might emerge.
Separately, DeFi protocols have coordinated to stabilize rsETH after a $293 million exploit on the Kelp restaking platform disrupted markets. Hackers stole over 116,000 restaked ETH tokens and used them as collateral to borrow funds, leaving about $195 million in bad debt on Aave and straining DeFi lending.
In response, a “DeFi United” effort — led by Aave with participation from Lido DAO, Golem Foundation and significant contributions from EtherFi Foundation and Mantle — has pledged more than 43,500 ETH (around $101 million) to provide relief and stabilize rsETH.
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