The Ethereum Foundation has moved $654 million in ETH to a wallet commonly used for sales. Such a liquidation could significantly shift token markets.
The community is buzzing with theories about the Foundation’s intentions, though the specifics remain ambiguous. Some analysts suggest that part of these funds may be allocated to veteran developers who are undercompensated.
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Ethereum Foundation Gears Up for Sale
Arkham Intelligence excels in on-chain analysis, uncovering significant reserves of overlooked assets and identifying transactions that can influence the market.
Today, they highlighted an important finding, revealing the Ethereum Foundation’s transfer of over $650 million in ETH tokens.
In the previous month, the Ethereum Foundation sold minor amounts of ETH and financially supported independent DeFi initiatives, with both transactions totaling under $10 million.
Today’s transfer, however, is significantly larger, prompting a wave of speculation; if the Foundation intends to sell these tokens, what is the reasoning behind it?
Notably, the Ethereum Foundation conducted a major sale last month to fund research and development, but that transaction was 16 times smaller than today’s. Recently, ETH’s price and blockchain infrastructure have faced real crises, and a token dump could worsen these issues. As of now, this transfer hasn’t notably impacted token values.
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A Safety Net for Developers?
A long-standing crisis within the Ethereum Foundation may account for this upcoming sale. Following months of disputes with the Geth team, veteran developer Péter Szilágyi recently resigned, alleging that the EF significantly undercompensates its core developers.
For instance, Szilágyi claimed to have earned $625,000 before taxes during his initial six years at the Ethereum Foundation, while witnessing ETH’s market cap soar from zero to $450 billion.
Numerous community commentators have harshly criticized this trend, particularly in light of the forthcoming sale.
However, despite Szilágyi’s resignation two days ago, a current Co-Executive Director at the Ethereum Foundation addressed his concerns this afternoon, adopting a conciliatory tone and acknowledging that “all of you [veteran builders] are underpaid for the value you provide.”
Who can say? Hopefully, the Foundation can utilize some of this Ethereum to appropriately reward its committed developers. After all, the project employs many experts who could have earned significantly more in other areas of Web3.
Even if only a portion of the $650 million is allocated for this purpose, it would be transformative and offer substantial positive publicity.
To clarify, however, all of this remains speculative. Despite timely apologies, there’s no solid indication that the Ethereum Foundation is arranging nest egg payouts for its builders.
If this sale proceeds, we should monitor ETH markets closely and evaluate the long-term effects.
