The Ethereum Foundation (EF) partially unwound a recent staking position after nearing its internal target of 70,000 staked ETH. Arkham on-chain data shows the foundation unstaked 17,035.326 ETH (about $40 million) by depositing wrapped staked ETH (wstETH) into Lido’s unstETH contract; the EF expects raw ETH to be released once the Ethereum withdrawal queue completes.
Unstaking on Ethereum moves previously locked validator funds into a withdrawal queue. Staked ETH on the Beacon Chain remains locked while it earns rewards; a withdrawal request places funds in a queue and they are released only after the queue processes.
The foundation has not publicly explained the reason for this 17,000-ETH unwind, which has spurred speculation that the funds could be destined for sale. Some observers noted concerns about large holders reducing market neutrality, with one critic saying the original ETH issuers remain major sellers.
The EF began staking after revising its policy in June 2025 to allow staking and DeFi participation as ways to support protocol research, development, and grants. Since February the foundation incrementally increased its stake: an initial 2,016 ETH, an additional 22,517 ETH in March, and more than 45,000 ETH earlier this month, bringing the total to roughly 69,500 ETH—just shy of its stated 70,000-ETH target.
Large concentrated stakes have raised governance concerns. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has warned that a substantial EF stake could complicate the foundation’s neutrality in contentious hard forks, when competing chains might arise.
Separately, the broader DeFi ecosystem moved to contain fallout from a major exploit affecting the Kelp restaking platform. Attackers stole more than 116,000 restaked ETH tokens and used them as collateral to borrow funds, contributing to roughly $195 million in bad debt on Aave and destabilizing rsETH markets. The exploit’s estimated impact was about $293 million.
In response, a coordinated “DeFi United” effort—led by Aave and involving Lido DAO, the Golem Foundation, and sizable contributions from EtherFi Foundation and Mantle—pledged over 43,500 ETH (around $101 million) to provide relief and help stabilize rsETH.
This account summarizes available on-chain data and public statements; the Ethereum Foundation has not issued a detailed explanation of the unstake as of publication.