- The Ether Foundation deposited more than 45,000 ETH in a single day, bringing the total to approximately 70,000 ETH.
- Over $143 million in ETH is currently in lock as the Foundation moves away from token sales.
- According to on-chain data, ETH held by Erik Voorhees remains active in the market, despite the low market turnover.
Ethereum Foundation staking activity expanded sharply this week as the Ethereum Foundation allocated more than 45,000 Ether (ETH) in a single day, bringing its total staked balance to approximately 69,500 ETH. The latest transactions place the Foundation less than 500 ETH away from its stated 70,000 ETH target. Data on-chain monitored by Arkham Intelligence indicates that the new assets deposited totaled 2,047 ETH, assembled across several transactions, with the batch value exceeding $92.2 million at the time the transactions occurred.Â
Ether Staking Grows under Treasury Policy.
Staking with the Ethereum Foundation began earlier this year as part of implementing an updated treasury plan initially proposed in June 2025. The new policy also added staking and decentralized participation in finance as organized ways of managing reserves.Â
The following month, staking activity increased, with 22,517 ETH deployed, valued at about $46.1 million. The recent deposit adds to the cumulative amount invested in staking, bringing the total to over 143 million, as hard-coded in the Ethereum Beacon Deposit Contract.Â
The contract secures the proof-of-stake system in the network, in which validators commit ETH to participate in block validation and network consensus.
Under the Foundation’s policy, staking rewards will be used to fund protocol research and development and ecosystem grants. The policy also confirmed that the organization is increasing its exposure to decentralized finance alongside staking activities.
Ethereum Foundation Staking Replaces Token Sale Approach
The move toward Ethereum Foundation staking follows earlier pressure within the Ethereum community over how treasury assets are used. Previously, the Foundation sold ETH periodically to finance its operations. The updated model supersedes this one by generating yield on staked assets rather than selling holdings.
According to the Foundation, this transition aims to enhance financial sustainability while continuing to support development activities. The plan was initially described in mid 2025, and it is scheduled to start implementation in early 2026. By the previous week, the Foundation had already reached $50 million in staked ETH before accelerating allocations to current levels.
Dr. Lena Schmidt of the Digital Asset Research Institute stated that the shift reflects a preference for staking returns and long-term asset value over alternative uses of capital.Â
Institutional Activity Aligns With Ethereum Developments
Ethereum Foundation staking activity is occurring alongside additional institutional engagement tied to Ethereum. Developments include a staked ETH fund associated with BlackRock and a reported $10 billion ETH treasury linked to Tom Leeâs BitMine.
Concurrently, the Foundation is still developing protocol-related projects. These include an Economic Zone framework that focuses on addressing fragmentation across Layer-2 networks and a development roadmap that will last through 2029.Â
Nevertheless, another implication of staking for the Ethereum Foundation is governance, which is linked to the proof-of-stake system.
Vitalik Buterin discussed this dynamic in January 2025, when he said that direct involvement in staking might force the Foundation to take a position on controversial events on the network. He further indicated that the Foundation is considering ways to reduce the risks of centralization that might arise from large stakeholder distributions.
Further ETH Accumulation Discovered On-Chain.
Outside the Ethereum Foundation’s staking activity, on-chain data shows that ETH continues to accrue to Erik Voorhees. Wallets linked to Voorhees made several consecutive purchases at the beginning of April.
The previous day, the wallet purchased 396.7 ETH for 818,700 USDT. These are sales made following the larger write-up of 122,355 ETH, totaling about 264.37 million.
Source: Lookonchain
The blockchain analytics system Lookonchain identified the exercise and traces the wallet movements and transaction flows. The statistics show an accumulation, even though the general market was not much involved at the time.
