Ether (ETH) rose over 10% in April, reaching as high as $2,430 this month amid renewed market optimism.
ETH/USD daily chart. Source: TradingView
However, during the same period, the Ethereum Foundation, the nonprofit organization overseeing the development of the Ethereum protocol, continued significant treasury sales.
Key conclusions: :
- The Ethereum Foundation has sold approximately 20,000 ETH so far in 2026.
- Institutional demand for ETH remains powerful, which offsets the foundation’s influence on the market.
Why is the Ethereum Foundation selling ETH?
In early April, the Foundation sold 5,000 ETH for approximately $11 million in DAI. This was followed by a larger sale of 10,000 ETH OTC to Tom Lee’s Bitmine at an average price of $2,387, raising approximately $23.9 million.
Source: X
The sale is not a reaction to price action, but is a consequence of disciplined fiscal policy adopted in June 2025
The Foundation maintains fiat reserves and stablecoins equivalent to approximately 2.5 years of operating expenses. Periodic sales of ETH replenish these reserves to fund protocol development, research, grants, and ecosystem support.
In 2026 alone, the Foundation sold approximately 20,000 ETH, raising over $45 million. According to the data source, he still has approximately 92,500 ETH (~$215 million) in his liquid treasury, plus 53,000 ETH staked. Arkham Intelligence.
Ethereum Foundation ETH Balance. Source: Arkham Intelligence
53,000 staked by the ETH Foundation could generate an annual profit of $4-5 million, assuming the current ETH price and annual rate of return of approximately 2.7-3.8% gross remain roughly the same or higher in the future.
This recent revenue stream should gradually reduce the Foundation’s reliance on ETH sales to fund its operations.
Is Ethereum Foundation ETH Selling Bearish?
The Ethereum Foundation’s ETH sales remain diminutive compared to daily ETH volumes.
A typical sale of 5,000-10,000 ETH represents just 0.08-0.25% of Ethereum’s average daily trading volume of $10-12 billion.
This modest size means that the market can comfortably absorb the Foundation’s sales pressure with negligible impact.
On-chain data is already highlighting solid underlying demand for ETH from gigantic holders.
For example, the number of daily accumulation addresses, or wallets constantly buying and holding Ether, increased to 2,434 this week, outpacing the number of exchange depository addresses (wallets preparing to sell), which dropped to 2,300, as shown below.
Binance ERC-20 Stablecoin Whale Activity Index. Source: CryptoQuant
Additionally, Ethereum spot ETFs have seen powerful inflows for three consecutive weeks, attracting more than $2 billion in recent capital since the beginning of April, according to data from SoSoValue.
Weekly flows of US Ethereum ETF spots. Source: SoSoValue
This continued institutional buying signals growing demand for Ethereum investment products on Wall Street.
The rising wedge of ether indicates a decline of 15%.
From a technical perspective, Ether is currently forming a rising wedge formation, a structure defined by two converging uptrend lines accompanied by noticeably dwindling volume.
In technical analysis, a rising wedge resolves when the price breaks below the lower trend line and falls by the maximum height of the structure.
ETH/USD daily chart. Source: TradingView
Applying this rule to ETH’s chart puts its downside target at around $1,950 by June, or over 15%, assuming the break point is the top of the wedge at around $2,580 where the two trend lines converge.
Related: Ethereum Whale opens bets of $90 million while the ETH price chart is at $3.2K. USD
Conversely, a break above the upper trend line of the wedge may invalidate the bearish outlook. Instead, bulls may target the 200-day exponential moving average (200-day EMA, blue line) around $2,630 as their next upside target.
