Decoding Ethereum’s Decline: Are Foundation Sales a Red Flag?

Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, is making headlines due to the recent actions by the Ethereum Foundation and Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. Ethereum, like many other cryptocurrencies, has been experiencing a downward trend, largely influenced by events like the Stars Arena hack, which saw nearly 3 million in crypto theft, and recent geopolitical tensions affecting the broader crypto market.

According to a video by Cheeky Crypto, one of the events that has caught the crypto world’s attention is the Ethereum Foundation’s sale of millions of ETH tokens. Earlier this week, the foundation transferred a substantial amount of ETH to Uniswap, selling 1,700 ETH for $2.73 million USDC at $1,611 per coin. This sale was followed by a further 1.45% drop in the ETH price, bringing it down to $1,590.

Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, has also been selling off a significant amount of his ETH holdings, worth around $1.6 million on the Bitstamp exchange. This is not the first time Buterin has offloaded his ETH holdings, with approximately 4,400 ETH transferred over the past two months. 

Looking closer at Ethereum’s on-chain analytics, the data reveals concerning trends. Wallets across various size categories, from 100,000 to 100 ETH, have shown an aggressive selloff over the past year. Wallets holding more than 10,000 ETH have seen nearly 10% or more declines, indicating a lack of confidence in Ethereum’s future.

Furthermore, Ethereum’s recent price drops have liquidated many positions. In the last 24 hours, $11.6 million worth of positions have been liquidated, with 73.3% being long and 26.6% being short positions. OKX is the exchange with the most liquidations, totaling $5.4 million. It’s unclear why the Ethereum Foundation and Vitalik Buterin are divesting their holdings, but many in the crypto community are left wondering if there’s a deeper issue affecting Ethereum’s future.