TL;DR:
- Vitalik Buterin sold 10,723 ETH for approximately $21.7 million since February 2, according to onchain data.
- On January 30, Buterin had withdrawn around 16,384 ETH to fund open-source projects.
- Ethereum has dropped 38% over the last 30 days and trades 63% below its all-time high of nearly $5,000.
Vitalik Buterin sold a total of 10,723 ETH for approximately $21.7 million since February 2, according to onchain data tracked by analytics platforms Onchain Lens and Lookonchain. The transactions were executed at an average price of $2,027 per ETH, and included a sale of 3,765 ETH for $7.08 million in the three days prior to February 24.
The operations follow a plan publicly announced by the Ethereum co-founder on January 30. In a post on X, Vitalik disclosed that he had withdrawn 16,384 ETH —valued at approximately $45 million at the time— to personally fund what he described as a “full stack, open-source, secure and verifiable” suite of software and hardware.
The funds, he explained, would be deployed over the coming years across sectors ranging from finance, communications, and governance to operating systems, secure hardware, and biotechnology applications. Buterin characterized the capital allocation as his “own austerity quota,” referencing the period in which the Ethereum Foundation prioritized long-term sustainability and core protocol development.
Vitalik Executes Sales Amid Market Decline
The transactions coincide with a broad-based retreat across the crypto market. Ethereum has lost 38% over the last 30 days and hovers around $1,825 at the time of writing, sitting 63% below its all-time high of nearly $5,000 reached in August of last year. It also posted a 5.4% decline in the last 24 hours.
Reactions on X were mixed. Some users criticized the timing of the sales. “Vitalik keeps turbo dumping his own project,” one wrote. “Vitalik, stop selling,” posted another. Some called the move “embarrassing.” Others defended the transactions, arguing that Buterin had detailed his funding plans in advance and that framing the sales as discretionary ignored their stated purpose.
Lookonchain data also shows that previous sales from Buterin’s wallet coincided with drops in Ethereum’s price.
