The Ethereum Foundation announced on Friday that it has finalized the sale of 10,000 Ether (ETH) through an over-the-counter (OTC) transaction with Tom Lee’s Bitmine Immersion Technologies, one of crypto’s leading treasury firms.
EF Fuels BitMine’s Push For 5% Supply Control
The Ethereum Foundation added that the OTC sale agreement was executed at an average price of $2,387 per ETH, putting the total value of the transaction at approximately $24 million. Ether was recently trading at $2,315, down about 0.5% on the day and 5.5% over the last week.
The Ethereum Foundation, established in 2014 to support the Ethereum blockchain and its broader ecosystem, indicated that the proceeds from the sale will fund its core operations, including protocol research and development, ecosystem expansion, and community grants. This underscores continued network development rather than financial distress. In other words, ETH is being reallocated into productive capital, which is being used to sustain and strengthen the long-term growth of the second-largest crypto ecosystem.
Bitmine Immersion Technologies, led by Fundstrat’s Tom Lee, served as the counterparty in the transaction and currently holds 4.97 million ETH — equivalent to 4.12% of Ether’s supply. Its total assets are valued at roughly $12.9 billion, making it the largest public Ether holder and the second-largest corporate digital asset treasury behind Michael Saylor’s Strategy.
Bitmine has reiterated its ambition to acquire up to 5% of Ether’s total circulating supply, which would equate to roughly 6 million tokens.
 
At the same time, when ETH is absorbed by treasury entities like BitMine, it often becomes part of “sticky supply” — coins that are held on a long-term balance sheet rather than actively traded. This can gradually decrease circulating liquidity, a dynamic that is considered structurally supportive for price, particularly if demand remains steady or increases dramatically.
Treasury Policy Overhaul And Staking Efforts
In the past, the Ethereum Foundation has faced criticism over periodic ETH sales used to fund its operations. In response, it introduced an updated Treasury Policy Framework in June 2025 aimed at reducing reliance on direct ETH liquidations, including allocating capital into DeFi protocols and staking ETH to generate yield as an alternative income stream.
By earlier this month, the Ethereum Foundation had staked approximately $143 million worth of Ether, effectively reaching its previously announced target of 70,000 ETH.
At present, around $279 million in assets remain held in the Ethereum Foundation’s main wallet, according to Arkham data, with approximately $214 million of that in Ether, equivalent to about 92,539 ETH at publication time.
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