The Ethereum Foundation has withdrawn over 21,000 ETH from Lido after weeks of earlier executing backlog activity and multiple OTC treasury sales tied to operational funding.
summary
- The Ethereum Foundation has withdrawn 21,270 ETH from Lido after weeks of previous unstable activity and OTC treasury sales.
- The latest Ethereum Foundation grants ongoing funding work related to zero-knowledge research, validator security, and Ethereum core clients.
- Arkham said the latest unclear move may relate to operational funding needs or growing concerns about third-party protocol risks following the Kelp DAO exploit.
According to the blockchain analytics platform Arkham, an Ethereum Foundation-branded wallet He started 21,270 Ethereum were withdrawn on Monday, an amount equal to about $50 million at current prices. The transaction moved funds from Lido’s liquid staking system to Ethereum’s withdrawal queue, where the stored ETH remains locked until the liquidation process is complete.
Under Ethereum’s proof-of-stake system, validators stake ETH on the Beacon Chain to help secure the network and receive a return in return. Once an uninstall request is submitted through Lido, holders receive a withdrawal prompt before ETH becomes redeemable after the queue ends.
Earlier than late April, foundation Unrestricted 17,035 ETH shortly after approaching its internal target of around 70,000 ETH. Arkham data at the time showed that the organization deposited ETH staked into Lido’s UnstETH contract, though the organization did not publicly explain the reasoning behind the move.
Questions about the nonprofit’s post-Treasury activity later intensified Sold The transfer of 10,000 ETH to BitMine in an OTC transaction was completed on May 1st. The deal, which has an average price of $2,292 per ETH, follows two previous OTC transactions to BitMine in March and April, bringing the total recent sale to 25,000 ETH.
In a statement accompanying the May deal, the Ethereum Foundation said the sale would fund “core operations and activities,” including protocol research, ecosystem development, and community grants.
Treasury adjustments continue as collection policy evolves
Following criticism over previous ETH sales, the institution revised its treasury policy in June 2025 and said increased stake participation would help support long-term development financing while reducing reliance on direct market sales.
Since February, the organization has steadily expanded its site. Founding wallets first deposited 2,016 ETH, followed by another 22,517 ETH in March. During early April, more than 45,000 ETH were added, bringing the total deposited balance to around 69,500 ETH before the first large withdrawal was made.
Arkham Suggested Recent unstable activity can be linked to funding requirements for ongoing network operation. The analytics provider also cited growing concerns about third-party protocol risks following the $293 million Kelp DAO exploit involving assets tied to rsETH.
Meanwhile, parts of Ethereum’s DeFi ecosystem continued recovery efforts linked to the exploit. Previous reports showed that Aave is coordinating support alongside Lido DAO, EtherFi Foundation, Mantle and other groups after more than 116,000 restocked ETH tokens were affected.
Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, has previously warned of the governance risks associated with widespread institutional ownership during contested hard forks, especially if the organization becomes deeply involved in validators’ involvement.
The foundation’s funding remains focused on infrastructure and ZK research
Alongside treasury activity, the Ethereum Foundation has continued to direct grants toward protocol infrastructure, zero-knowledge research, validator security, and developer tools.
Allocation for the first quarter of 2026 a report Includes support for implementation clients such as Geth and Erigon, associated upgrades to the compatible Lighthouse client, validator security systems including Vero, and node discovery through DISC-NG.
Additional grants covered Poseidon hash analysis, research into algebraic attack vectors affecting ZK systems, quantum-resistant cryptography, and formal verification associated with the RISC-V-based zkVM infrastructure.
Developer-focused funding was also directed toward WalletConnect libraries for clear signing, L2BEAT analytics tools, ERC ecosystem initiatives, DAO governance research, decentralized identity standards, privacy tools, including Privacy Pool integrations and Tor-related work.
Separately, the organization recently confirmed progress related to Ethereum’s upcoming “Glamsterdam” update after setting a minimum gas cap of 200 million. According to the above Preparing reports From crypto.news The change could significantly increase throughput from Ethereum’s current gas cap environment of 60 million.
