Ethereum co‑founder Vitalik Buterin sold about 2,961 ETH — roughly $6.6 million — over three days after announcing plans to withdraw some holdings. Blockchain tracker Lookonchain posted the trades on X, saying the sales executed at an average price near $2,228 per ETH. CoinMarketCap data showed Ether trading around $2,130 at the time, down more than 5% over 24 hours.
Arkham Intelligence’s on‑chain data indicates the transactions were routed through CoW Protocol and broken into many small swaps rather than a single large block trade, a tactic often used to reduce market impact. The fragmentation suggests an effort to minimize price disruption from the disposals.
Last week, Buterin said he has set aside 16,384 ETH (about $45 million) from his personal holdings to support privacy‑preserving technologies, open hardware and secure, verifiable software. He said those funds will be deployed gradually over coming years as the Ethereum Foundation moves into what he described as “mild austerity,” while the foundation maintains its technical roadmap. Buterin added he will personally take on responsibilities that might otherwise fall to special foundation projects, focusing on building “an open‑source, secure and verifiable full stack of software and hardware that can protect both our personal lives and our public environments.”
The Ethereum Foundation has previously drawn criticism for selling ETH to fund operations and has explored alternatives such as staking and DeFi‑based approaches to generate funding without liquidating holdings.
The recent sales come amid heightened market sensitivity to large holders. Falling Ether prices have prompted some leveraged whales to liquidate assets to repay loans, which can add downward pressure on the market. Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan wrote on X that the crypto market has been in a “full‑blown crypto winter” since January 2025 and suggested the market may be closer to an end than a beginning.
Observers note that while the amount sold is sizable in fiat terms, the use of multiple small swaps and protocols like CoW can limit immediate market impact compared with a single large on‑chain sale. As always, on‑chain disclosures and third‑party trackers remain key sources for tracking major holder activity.