Ethereum Foundation moving 50,000 ETH, worth over $167 million, to wallet in effort to support DeFi

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The Block2025/01/19 16:00

By:The Block

Quick Take Ethereum Foundation’s Hsiao-Wei Wang announced the organization will transfer 50,000 ETH to a wallet that will then be used to “participate” in the DeFi ecosystem. Move comes on the heels of concerns related to the foundation’s leadership and ETH’s market underperformance.

Ethereum Foundation moving 50,000 ETH, worth over $167 million, to wallet in effort to support DeFi image 0

Amid a period of public scrutiny, the Ethereum Foundation announced that it set up a wallet address to begin participating in DeFi, confirming a recent statement from Vitalik Buterin that the non-profit will be ongoing organizational changes. The organization plans to seed the wallet with approximately $150 million worth of ETH, though noted it could take a few days to set up.

"The Ethereum Foundation has set up a new Safe 3-of-5 multisig wallet ... An op has been initiated to send 50,000 ETH there, but be patient; due to signing delays, this will take a few days to process," Hsiao-Wei Wang, who was recently appointed to a leadership role at the foundation, posted to X on Monday. "The [Ethereum Foundation] will use this new wallet to participate in the DeFi ecosystem."

There have been longstanding concerns over EF transparency, especially regarding its treasury management. In recent weeks, a number of high profile crypto commentators raised concerns about the Ethereum Foundation and its leadership, in part due to ETH's market underperformance and the rising competition from rival chain Solana.

Some proposed suggestions included potentially replacing executive director Aya Miyaguchi with the more technically-minded Ethereum Foundation former researcher Danny Ryan, who led the blockchain's proof-of-stake upgrade. There have also been calls for the foundation to either stake or deploy a portion of its approximate $1 billion in ETH holdings onchain. The foundation has long been criticized for creating "sell pressure" on ETH by swapping its holdings for stablecoins to pay salaries.

On Saturday, in response to recent criticisms, Ethereum co-founders Vitalik Buterin and Joe Lubin hinted at “large changes” to the leadership structure of the Ethereum Foundation. In response to its lack of participation in the Ethereum ecosystem, Josh Stark, a contributor to the Ethereum Foundation, said the organization used the blockchain to sell tokens, pay out grants and for tickets at events.

This is not the first time the Ethereum Foundation has come under pressure. Last year, there was significant community backlash after it came to light that high-profile Ethereum Foundation researchers, Justin Drake and Dankrad Feist, had taken on advisory roles at EigenLayer, receiving substantial token incentives that they later reneged.

"interesting development. if there is a sort of middle ground that most people could rally around it is probably the EF involving itself in dapps more," Paul Dylan-Ennis, a lecturer at University College Dublin's business school and prominent Ethereum commentator, said on X.

Safe is crypto wallet company while Aave a decentralized finance protocol.

Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.

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