A wallet tied to the Ethereum Foundation sold 2,500 ETH on November 14, lifting its four-day disposal total to 7,500 ETH valued at roughly $14.52 million, as the token slid under $1,850.
The latest batch was swapped for about 4.597 million USDS through CoW Swap, and the proceeds were then moved to a Safe multisignature wallet, according to blockchain analytics firm Onchain Lens. The trade implied an average price of about $1,839 per coin, below the roughly $1,936 average realized across the four-day selling window.
The address, identified by its opening characters 0x5CBC, had already been offloading sizable amounts earlier in the week. An earlier count put its sales at 5,000 ETH for about $9.92 million, or $1,983.50 per token.
Trackers have flagged the wallet as linked to the Ethereum Foundation, though the nonprofit has not publicly confirmed that it controls the address or explained the purpose of these transactions.
Note: Figures come from on-chain analytics cited in reports on the transactions.
The sales landed as digital assets sold off broadly. Ether fell below $1,900 and extended losses toward $1,850 on November 14, its weakest level in nearly three months, leaving the second-largest cryptocurrency down more than 25% from the $2,450 peak it touched on November 4 after the U.S. midterm elections.
The timing drew criticism from community members who asked why an organization charged with supporting Ethereum's development would convert more holdings into stablecoins during a downturn.
Periodic ETH conversions are not new for the foundation. It moved 5,000 ETH into stablecoins via CoW Swap in April to fund research, ecosystem grants and other operating commitments. Its treasury policy sets an annual spending target equal to 15% of treasury assets and a reserve meant to cover about 2.5 years of expenses, with room for periodic ETH sales when fiat-denominated buffers fall below target. The foundation reviews liquidity needs quarterly and can convert ETH through exchanges, over-the-counter deals or decentralized protocols.
Those rules explain why regular conversions happen, but they do not establish whether the latest transactions were part of an approved treasury operation. The foundation has not said whether the 7,500 ETH are tied to specific expenses or grant distributions.
Alongside the selling, the foundation has leaned more heavily on staking to generate returns from ETH it still holds. A staking program launched in February with a target of about 70,000 ETH, and rewards flow back to the treasury to help fund protocol work and ecosystem support. Pairing sales with staking income reduces the need to liquidate holdings for every operating cost.
Other large crypto holders have taken similar approaches. Bitcoin miner MARA has used coin sales to pay down debt and fund a push into AI infrastructure while keeping a substantial mining business running. The foundation differs in that it is a nonprofit whose treasury finances research, infrastructure and grants rather than shareholder returns.
On the bearish side, investor Peter Schiff pointed to further downside for ether. "Once it breaks the uptrend at around $1,600, the next support level is the 2022 low just below $1,000," he said. "If that breaks, there is no support left until that bottom blue line."
For traders, the sales add a supply overhang at a moment when sentiment is already fragile. The $1,800 area now stands as the nearest floor after the weekend slide, with the $1,600 trendline and the sub-$1,000 2022 low cited as the next markers if the decline deepens. Whether the foundation's wallet keeps selling, and whether it confirms ownership of the address, will shape how the market reads the flow in the sessions ahead.
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