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.
Story comments
Loading comments…