Ethereum Foundation heaps pressure on market with $1.68 million in ETH sales

The Ethereum Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to the blockchain network’s ecosystem, liquidated $1.6 million worth of ETH, according to crypto analytical firm Arkham Intelligence.

Data from the platform reveals that the foundation utilized the CoW Protocol to sell 700 ETH, acquiring $1.6 million in DAI stablecoin. Subsequently, the funds were transferred to an address “0x9ee…313D,” identified as the Grant Provider by Etherscan.

This transaction, which may have occurred when ETH was valued around $2,400, closely mirrors a previous one on Jan. 16. During that instance, the foundation exchanged 100 ETH for $253,000, with the funds also directed to the Grant Provider wallet.

Despite these recent sales, the Ethereum Foundation retains a substantial crypto portfolio. It currently holds 312.894K ETH, valued at approximately $747.40 million, and 31.2K WETH, valued at $74.65 million. Additional assets in its possession include $1.96 million DAI, $113.61K USDC, and $72.97K BUSD.

Given the considerable volume of ETH held by the foundation, its trading activities often influence the asset’s price movements. Consequently, market observers often monitor its transactions for potential insights into the organization’s plans.

As such, the Ethereum Foundation’s recent selling activities have contributed to a 4.3% decline in Ethereum’s price, which currently trades at $2,386 as of press time, according to CryptoSlate’s data.

Ethereum’s Dencun upgrade

Interestingly, these fund movements coincide with the recent launch of the Dencun upgrade on the Ethereum network’s testnet, Goerli, on Jan. 17. This upgrade aims to alleviate gas fees and enhance transaction speed through improvements to the network’s layer-2 rollups.

The upgrade is the most technical advancement the blockchain network has seen since the Shapella hard fork that allowed the withdrawal of staked ether (stETH).

However, a bug delayed the network’s launch for around four hours before the…