Vitalik Buterin allocated 17,000 ether, worth about $43 million, for privacy projects in January. A month later, his wallet balance was reduced by about that amount and the token he is selling has lost more than a third of its value.
Data from Arkham Intelligence shows that wallets attributed to Buterin held around 241,000 ETH as of early February. That figure now stands at 224,000 ETH after a steady series of outflows throughout the month, including $6.6 million in three days in early February and roughly another $7 million in the last three days alone.
The sales were executed through the decentralized exchange aggregator CoW Protocol, divided into numerous smaller swaps rather than large, individual transactions.
This approach is standard practice to minimize slippage in size, but it also means that the sale has been a slow, steady bleed rather than a one-time event.
The moment is awkward. Ether has fallen 37% over the past month, according to market data from CoinDesk, trading near $1,900 on Wednesday, and Buterin’s ongoing selling adds pressure on holders to a token already struggling for a narrative.
More than 30% of the ETH supply remains locked in staking, but returns have compressed to around 2.8%, making locking less attractive relative to risk-free alternatives.
Buterin announced the $43 million allocation in January, saying he had set aside 16,384 ETH to fund privacy-preserving technologies, open hardware, and secure software systems.
He described the effort as something he would personally lead as the Ethereum Foundation entered a period of “mild austerity” while maintaining its technical roadmap. The capital, he said, would be deployed gradually over several years.
The Ether selloff has amplified the pain for corporate ETH holders. Bitmine Immersion Technologies, one of the largest, is estimated to have billions in unrealized losses after ether fell about 60% in six months, well below its average purchase price.
