Ethereum Foundation Sells 10,000 ETH Worth $23.87M to Bitmine in OTC Deal

Gate News message, April 25 — The Ethereum Foundation completed an over-the-counter sale of 10,000 ETH to Bitmine, the digital asset treasury led by Tom Lee, at an average price of $2,387 per ether, totaling nearly $24 million. The foundation said the proceeds will fund core operations and activities, including protocol research and development, ecosystem development, and community grant funding.

With this purchase, Bitmine has expanded its ETH holdings to 4,976,485 ether, representing 4.12% of ether's total supply. The publicly-listed company acquired 101,627 ETH earlier this week and previously bought 5,000 ETH from the Ethereum Foundation last month for approximately $10 million.

The Ethereum Foundation has faced recurring criticism over ETH sales to fund operations. Last year, the foundation announced plans to limit ETH sales by deploying capital in DeFi protocols and staking ETH to generate income, seeding its DeFi Ecosystem wallet with 50,000 ETH in January 2025.