Ethereum Foundation's years of ETH sell-offs trigger community backlash

The Ethereum Foundation faced sustained community backlash throughout 2024 and early 2025 for regularly selling ETH to cover its approximately $100 million annual operating expenses, with sales averaging every 11 days and triggering accusations of market manipulation and governance misalignment. In response, the Foundation published a comprehensive treasury policy in June 2025 capping annual spending at 15% of treasury value and requiring a 2.5-year reserve buffer. By April 2026, the Foundation staked its final batch of a 70,000 ETH target worth $143 million, generating $3.9-5.4 million in annual yield that covers roughly 5% of its budget and replaces the need to sell approximately 2,600 ETH yearly. The controversy also exposed conflicts of interest when two Foundation researchers accepted token allocations from Ethereum projects like EigenLayer in 2024, prompting executive director Aya Miyaguchi to announce a formal conflict of interest policy.

Ethereum Foundation's $143 million staking program implementation

• ▪The Ethereum Foundation staked $46 million worth of ETH on March 30, 2026.
• ▪The Ethereum Foundation's 70,000 ETH staking generates between $3.9 million and $5.4 million in annual yield.
• ▪The Ethereum Foundation reached a staking target of 70,000 ETH worth approximately $143 million.
• ▪The Ethereum Foundation staked its final batch of $93 million in ETH on April 3, 2026.
• ▪Bitwise acquired the Attestant team that originally created Dirk and Vouch in 2024.
• ▪The Ethereum Foundation made an initial staking deposit of 2,016 ETH in February 2026.

Historical treasury management challenges and community backlash

• ▪The Ethereum Foundation's June 2025 treasury policy committed to reducing annual expenses linearly over five years toward a 5% baseline.
• ▪The Ethereum Foundation holds approximately $100 million in annual operational expenses.
• ▪Two Ethereum Foundation researchers came under fire in 2024 for quietly accepting token allocations from Ethereum-based projects like EigenLayer.
• ▪The Ethereum Foundation's June 2025 treasury policy capped annual operational spending at 15% of treasury value.
• ▪Ethereum Foundation executive director Aya Miyaguchi announced a formal conflict of interest policy in response to the 2024 token allocation controversy.

Governance conflicts of interest created by staking revenue

• ▪The Ethereum Foundation's staking yield of $5.4 million covers roughly 5% of the Ethereum Foundation's $100 million annual budget.
• ▪At current prices, $5.4 million in staking yield replaces the need for the Ethereum Foundation to sell approximately 2,600 ETH per year.

Comparison with other crypto foundation sustainability models

• ▪The Solana Foundation Delegation Program covers 100% of voting costs for validators in the first three months, tapering to 25% by month twelve.
• ▪Solana Foundation Delegation Program delegations accounted for roughly 5.9% of total staked SOL as of late 2025.

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