Ethereum Foundation Stakes 45,000 ETH, Closing In on 70,000 Goal

The Ethereum Foundation (EF) staked more than 45,000 Ether (ETH) on Friday, April 3, pushing its total staked balance to about 69,500 ETH—roughly 500 ETH shy of its 70,000-ETH target. Arkham Intelligence data shows the latest move was executed through multiple transactions totaling 45,000 ETH, with each transfer sized at 2,047 ETH. The funds were sent from the foundation's treasury to the Ethereum Beacon Deposit Contract for staking. Blockchain data puts the value of these transfers at more than $92.2 million. The EF began staking portions of its ETH holdings in February, following a treasury strategy update introduced last June. In its updated policy, the foundation said it had historically "simply held ETH" but is increasingly deploying funds into staking and DeFi to improve financial sustainability and support permissionless infrastructure. Earlier staking activity included 2,016 ETH (about $4.1 million) in February and 22,517 ETH (around $46.1 million) in March. Arkham data now indicates the EF has locked more than $143 million worth of ETH in the Beacon Deposit Contract to date. Under its revised approach, the foundation said it would periodically sell ETH to address deviations between its fiat-denominated assets and its operating-expense buffer. It recently reported completing a 5,000 ETH over-the-counter sale. The new round of staking suggests a tilt toward generating yield rather than relying on sales to fund expenses, a shift that follows mounting pressure from the Ethereum community. ETH market snapshot: Ether remains a key concern for community members after months of weak performance. The token is down about 60% from its all-time high of $4,946 reached in August 2025. ETH was trading just above $2,000 at the time of writing, little changed over the past 24 hours, and up more than 2% over the past seven days, according to CoinGecko.