The Ethereum Foundation has executed an over-the-counter sale of 5,000 ETH to Bitmine, the leading Ethereum treasury firm led by Thomas Lee, at an average price of $2,042.96 per token.
Proceeds will support ongoing protocol research, ecosystem development, and community grants. The Foundation retains approximately 170,000 ETH-valued at around $356 million-after the transaction.
The EF has begun staking its treasury holdings, with 2,016 ETH already deployed and plans to stake up to 70,000 ETH total. Bitmine now holds over 4.5 million ETH, more than 3 million staked, generating up to $259 million in annualized revenue via its MAVAN validator network.
This move follows the release of the EF Mandate, affirming the foundation’s role as a steward-not authority-dedicated to preserving Ethereum’s core principles: censorship resistance, open source integrity, privacy, and user sovereignty.