The Ethereum Foundation has less than 500 ETH left to reach the staking milestone of 70,000 ETH

Ethereum Foundation (EF), a nonprofit organization that guides the development of the Ethereum ecosystem, staked more than 45,000 Ether (ETH) on Friday, bringing the total amount of ETH staked to about 69,500 ETH, leaving less than 500 ETH to reach the Foundation’s 70,000 ETH target.

EF staked these coins through a series of transactions, each transaction consisting of 2,047 ETH. The total ETH staked on Friday was worth more than $92.2 million, according to data from Arkham Intelligence.

A set of transactions moving ETH from the Ethereum Foundation treasury to the Beacon chain withdrawal contract for staking. Source: EF began staking ETH in February as part of a restructured treasury strategy, announced in June 2025, and will use the generated staking yield to fund protocol research, development, and ecosystem grants. EF said in its updated treasury policy:

“We are increasingly shifting toward staking and DeFi, both to improve financial sustainability and to support a crucial group of applications that are bringing to life the promise of safe, permissionless access to civil infrastructure for millions of people today.”

The Foundation staked 2,016 ETH, valued at approximately $4.1 million, in February, followed by 22,517 ETH, valued at approximately $46.1 million, in March. According to Arkham Intelligence, EF has now locked more than $143 million worth of ETH in Ethereum’s Beacon Deposit Contract.

Token balances of liquid assets and the Ethereum Foundation’s staking-related transactions. Source: The adoption of the yield-generating treasury strategy came after pressure from the Ethereum community, which required EF to generate treasury income to cover expenses, instead of repeatedly selling tokens to fund its activities.

Vitalik Buterin warns that EF staking could force it to take sides in upcoming hard forks

Validators, the parties that lock tokens to secure blockchain networks using proof-of-stake (PoS), could affect which chain is considered valid in the event a hard fork occurs—that is, a network split into two competing chains.

“If it is EF itself staking, then in practice that would force us to take a position in any future controversial hard fork,” Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said in January 2025.

Buterin said EF is looking for ways to mitigate centralization risks arising from its staking activities if a controversial hard fork emerges.