Vitalik Buterin may have completed ETH sales to the Ethereum Foundation.

• Vitalik Buterin reduces ETH reserves to fund Foundation.
• Ethereum Foundation prepares new technical roadmap for 2026
• ETH sales do not impact the price of Ethereum.

Vitalik Buterin may be close to concluding a new cycle of ETH sales aimed at funding the Ethereum Foundation. Most of the transactions occurred in the range close to US$2.000 per unit, a period when Ethereum was facing market pressure before its recent recovery.

On-chain data indicates that approximately 16.420 ETH were sold to cover the Foundation's operational needs, slightly above the initially projected 16.384 ETH. Other estimates suggest that the total sold could reach 17.196 ETH when considering additional transactions carried out in February.

In addition to direct sales, one of the wallets associated with Buterin continues to move WETH through the Cow Protocol, converting the assets into different stablecoins, including USDTB, GHO, PYUSD, and EUROC. Part of these funds also remains allocated to DeFi protocols like Aave, while other wallets are used for charitable donations.

Vitalik has now sold 16,420 $ ETH for $32.84M at $2,000, exceeding the originally planned 16,384 $ ETH.

The move aligns with the Ethereum Foundation's “mild austerity” strategy – redirecting funds toward security, privacy, core R&D, and long-term ecosystem…

Historically, Buterin has significantly reduced his ETH holdings. From an estimated 700 ETH during the project's early years, his current allocation is around 224 units. The founder's personal decisions are not directly linked to the Foundation's guidelines, which may result in occasional market movements, even if the volume sold is not sufficient to significantly alter the price structure.

The Ethereum Foundation, for its part, holds approximately 172 ETH in reserves and has signaled a move towards greater financial discipline. Part of these resources will be directed towards staking and the selective funding of new projects linked to the ecosystem.

Meanwhile, the price of Ethereum regained momentum, trading at $2.059,05 after days of recovery in the cryptocurrency market. This renewed optimism comes amid the release of a new technical roadmap from the Foundation.

Dubbed "Strawmap," the plan details structural changes to the protocol. Among the main objectives are a Layer 1 with completion in seconds, the Gigagas project, which aims for up to 10 transactions per second using Zk EVMs and real-time proofs, and the Teragas concept, with the potential to reach 10 million transactions through data availability sampling.

The roadmap also addresses protection against quantum attacks and improvements in privacy for ETH transfers. The preliminary plan emerged in January 2026 and is part of a strategy to make Ethereum more efficient and competitive against networks like Solana, reinforcing the focus on scalability and security for the next cycles of the cryptocurrency market.