The Ethereum Foundation sold 5,000 ETH worth over $10.2 million to treasury firm BitMine Immersion Technologies. The sale funds the Foundation’s core operations and marks its second direct sale to a publicly traded Ethereum treasury firm. Despite the purchase, BitMine faces a massive unrealized loss on its ETH holdings, which have declined in value by 58% from last year’s peak.
The Ethereum Foundation has sold 5,000 ETH directly to publicly traded treasury company BitMine Immersion Technologies. According to an announcement, the transaction executed at an average price of $2,042.96 per coin, totaling just over $10.2 million.
The Foundation stated this sale funds its core operations and activities, including protocol R&D and community grant funding. It described the move as part of its ongoing treasury management activities.
This is the second such sale by the Foundation, following a deal last July with Sharplink. The price of Ethereum has fallen 58% since its peak of $4,946 last August.
As of last Monday, BitMine reported holdings of 4,534,563 ETH, valued around $9.41 billion at recent prices. The firm faces an estimated unrealized loss in the ballpark of $7.5 billion on its investments.
Despite that paper loss, BitMine and its Chairman Tom Lee continue purchasing ETH. “We continue to believe that crypto prices are in the late/final stages of the ‘mini-crypto winter,'” Lee stated last week.
Ethereum is up 5% over the last week and 9% over the last 30 days. Users on a prediction market platform, however, estimate a 63% chance the asset’s price will next hit $1,500 rather than $3,000.
