The Ethereum Foundation pushed most of its pledged ETH into staking this week, moving the charity and research arm closer to a long-promised target while putting more of its treasury to work.
According to Arkham on-chain data, the foundation sent roughly $93 million worth of ether (about 45,034 ETH) to the Eth2 Beacon Chain deposit contract on Thursday. Those deposits were posted in uniform chunks of 2,047 ETH—each worth about $4.23 million—and originated from the foundation’s treasury multisig. Combined with earlier deposits this month, the new stake brings the foundation’s total staked position to roughly $143 million, or about 69,500 ETH — essentially hitting the 70,000 ETH target it announced in February.
A quick timeline:
- The foundation began the push in February with an initial 2,016 ETH deposit.
- It added roughly 20,470 ETH on Monday.
- Thursday’s batch completed the remaining commitment in one large tranche.
Arkham’s address-tracking also shows the foundation controls roughly $270.9 million in assets across 14 addresses. ETH remains the dominant holding (about 102,400 ETH, or roughly $210.9 million), with smaller positions including USDC, BNB and a fractional amount of bitcoin.
Why this matters
Staking locks ETH to help secure the network and earns rewards—conceptually similar to buying bonds and collecting interest. At current institutional staking rates (roughly 2.7%–3.8% APY), the foundation’s newly staked position would produce an estimated $3.9 million to $5.4 million a year. Using MEV-boost (a way to capture additional block-building revenue) can lift returns above those baseline figures.
For the foundation, staking turns idle assets into a recurring revenue stream to help fund research, grants and operations without selling ETH. That’s a notable shift from the previous approach, when the foundation sold ETH at times that critics said pressured prices through 2024 and early 2025. Staking reduces the need to sell, though it doesn’t eliminate it entirely.
What’s next
Hitting the 70,000 ETH target doesn’t mean the program is finished. The foundation still holds more than 100,000 ETH that remains unstaked, and it has not announced whether it will expand its staking program or keep the rest as liquid reserves.
Market snapshot
Ether was trading at about $2,059 at the time of the deposits, down roughly 4.3% over the prior week.
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