Ethereum Founder Keeps Moving Coins — ETH Sell-Off Continues

Vitalik Buterin has been moving Ether into stablecoins again. According to on-chain data, wallets linked to him carried out a series of swaps on CoW Swap, sending more than 3,100 ETH into stable assets in recent days.

Reports from Arkham Intelligence flagged the activity, which lowered his visible balance to just above 224,000 ETH — still a very large holding.

The numbers deserve context. A $6 million set of sales is small compared with a multi-hundred-million-dollar stake. Some of the transfers were public and routine.

Reports say parts of earlier moves — about $29 million worth — had clear funding purposes. At least $2.3 million of that was used to back projects tied to the foundation’s work. That is a normal use of a treasury when teams need cash for development and grants.

The sale sequence also fits into a broader plan that was mentioned publicly weeks ago. Buterin signaled that roughly $44.7 million might be offloaded over time while the Ethereum Foundation tightens spending and adopts a more frugal stance.

That mild austerity is meant to stretch funds and keep core programs running. Moving assets into stablecoins can be a defensive step: it reduces exposure to price swings while preserving buying power for future spending.

Still, markets are fragile. ETH has fallen, trading under $1,900 and hitting two-week lows in the recent session. The token is down sharply over the past month, and that drop amplifies any news about big holders selling.

Prediction markets even assign a high chance that ETH falls to $1,500 before climbing back to $3,000. Traders react to signals; founder moves are a signal. That does not automatically mean the founder is abandoning the project, but it does feed short-term anxiety.

Beyond the cash moves, Buterin has been outspoken about technical direction. He argued the mainnet needs a rethink of how it works with layer-two rollups, and he backed an upgrade aimed at strengthening censorship resistance.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView