Ethereum Foundation Nears 70,000 Staked ETH as Price Defends $2,000
- Ethereum Foundation staking rose to 69,500 ETH after Friday deposits worth $93.1 million.
- The treasury shift uses staking rewards to fund research, development, and ecosystem grants.
- ETH held near $2,053 as the Foundation moved closer to its 70,000 staked ETH target.
The Ethereum Foundation moved closer to a major treasury milestone on Friday after staking more than 45,000 ether in a coordinated series of transactions. The deposits lifted its total staked balance to about 69,500 coins, leaving the organization less than 500 coins short of its stated 70,000 target.
Arkham Intelligence data valued Friday’s allocation at more than $93.1 million. The move came as ETH held near $2,053, keeping the market’s focus on both balance sheet strategy and price stability around the $2,000 level.
The latest deposits extended a treasury shift that began in February and formalized a broader funding reset announced in June 2025. Under that policy, the foundation now seeks income from staking rewards instead of leaning on direct token sales to cover operations.
That adjustment followed criticism from parts of the community, where repeated sales were viewed as a weak signal on long-term confidence. The new structure keeps principal holdings intact while directing yield toward protocol research, development, and ecosystem grants.
Treasury Strategy Moves From Sales to Yield
The organization began the new approach in February, when it staked 2,016 coins valued at about $4.1 million. It followed that with 22,517 coins in March, worth roughly $46.1 million. Friday’s transactions added the largest monthly tranche so far and pushed the cumulative locked amount above $143 million, according to Arkham Intelligence.
The deposits were split into several transfers, each carrying 2,047 coins. In its updated treasury policy, the group said it was moving further into staking and decentralized finance to strengthen financial sustainability.
It also framed that shift as support for applications delivering permissionless and secure access to basic infrastructure. That language marked a notable change from earlier funding practices, in which periodic sales supplied operational cash. Under the new framework, staking yield becomes the income stream while the treasury base remains preserved.
Staking Growth Brings Governance Concerns into Focus
The treasury change also reopened an internal governance concern that Vitalik Buterin first raised publicly in January 2025. He warned that if the foundation were to stake directly, it could be forced to take a side during a contentious hard fork.
In proof-of-stake systems, validators help determine which chain remains valid when networks split into competing versions. That gives large stakeholders influence beyond treasury management.
Buterin said the organization was exploring ways to reduce the centralization risks linked to that role. His warning did not stop the policy rollout, but it added an important qualification to the current expansion.
The latest deposits, therefore, carry two meanings at once. They represent a stronger income strategy, but they also increase the need for safeguards around validator influence in future network disputes.
Related: Bitcoin Fear Hits 5-Week High as Standard Chartered Backs $500K by 2030
Price Holds Near $2,000 as Liquid Supply Tightens
Broader stakeholder data show why the treasury move matters beyond one balance sheet. Around 38 million coins, or about 30% of the total supply, are now locked across beacon chain staking contracts.
Every additional coin committed to staking removes one more unit from immediate secondary-market circulation. That reduces liquid supply while increasing the share of coins tied to validation and yield generation.
Even so, the market response remained measured at the time of writing. ETH traded at $2,053, down about 0.64% over 24 hours, after swinging between the high-$2,300s and low-$1,800s in recent activity.
Market capitalization stood at $247.91 billion, while daily trading volume reached $7.7 billion. Circulating supply was listed at 120.69 million coins. Earlier treasury sales had drawn criticism, including the sale of 10,000 coins last September and the transfer of another 5,000 coins privately to BitMine this month.
Taken together, the latest staking push shows a treasury strategy moving decisively toward yield generation while ETH continues to defend the $2,000 level amid cautious market conditions.
