Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin has transferred approximately $6.7 million worth of ETH from his wallets over three days, according to on-chain data. The activity is part of a plan to support the Ethereum Foundation, with part of the funds converted and partly used to support a biotech project. Buterin has previously sold large amounts of ETH, and these founder-linked movements have coincided with a recent downturn in Ethereum’s market price.
On-chain data from Arkham Intelligence shows Vitalik Buterin moved 2,972 ETH, worth $6.69 million, originating from a larger operational plan. Buterin announced his intent to withdraw $44.7 million to assist the foundation during what he described as a period of “mild austerity.”
This week, he converted 13,217 ETH into Wrapped Ethereum, valued at $29 million. He sold $2.3 million worth from this amount and allocated $500,000 to support the biotech project Kanro, which he initiated in 2023.
Over two days, Buterin reduced his total ETH holdings from 241,000 to 227,268 tokens. His cryptocurrency portfolio, valued at $532.8 million, remains heavily concentrated in Ethereum.
This is not the first time Buterin has reduced his stake. In 2015, he sold 500,000 ETH to Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz for $0.99 per token. Buterin previously denied allegations of dumping, stating that “outgoing ETH Foundation wallet transfers served as payments to researchers and developers.”
The recent transfers from the founder’s wallets coincided with a decline in ETH’s market value. On Wednesday morning, ETH was trading near $2,090, marking a 3.9% drop over 24 hours and a 30% decline from the previous week.
Buterin is also re-evaluating Ethereum’s technical strategy. He recently criticized the blockchain’s reliance on layer-2 networks, arguing the original vision for them “no longer makes sense.” He now advocates for a new development path that rethinks this dependency.
