Ethereumco-founderVitalikButerinrecentlyaddressedwhytheEthereumFoundation,thenon-profitsupportingtheblockchainnetwork,optstosellitsETHholdingsratherthanstakethem.
Hiscommentsfollowincreasingcommunitycriticism,callingontheFoundationtomanageitsresourcesmoreresponsibly.
WhytheEthereumFoundationDoesn’tStakeItsETH
InanOctober27postonX,ButerinoutlinedtherationalebehindtheFoundation’sdecisiontoperiodicallysellETH.HenotedthatstakingcouldleadtheFoundationtotakean“officialstance”oncertainnetworkupgrades,particularlyduringcontentioushardforks—somethingitwantstoavoid.
However,ButerinrevealedthattheFoundationisexploringothermethodstoengagewithstaking.TheseoptionsincludeissuinggrantsinstakedETH,whichwouldallowgrantrecipientstostaketheETH,controlwithdrawaltimelines,andkeeptherewards.AnotherpotentialapproachisdelegatingstakingresponsibilitiestomultipleorganizationstostakeontheFoundation’sbehalf.
“Oneinterestingideaaroundthisthatisbeingconsideredisgivingsomegrantsintheformof‘youcanstakeourETH,youchoosehowaslongasit’sethical,andkeeptheupside,”Buterinstated.
StakingisessentialtoEthereum’sproof-of-stake(PoS)mechanism,whereuserslockupETHtovalidatetransactionsandearnrewards.ManyinthecryptocommunityarguethatbystakingitsETH,theEthereumFoundationcouldfunditsoperationsthroughtheserewards,potentiallyreducingtheneedtoselloffassets.
EthereumFoundationETHHoldings.Source:ScopeScan
Recently,blockchainanalyticsplatformScopeScanreportedthattheFoundationhadsold4,066ETH,valuedat$11.24million,on-chainviathedecentralizedexchangeCoWSwapthisyear.ScopeScanalsocalculatedthat,withthecurrentannualstakingreturnof3.1%,theFoundation’s271,000ETHholdings—worthapproximately$673million—couldgenerate8.4millionETH(orabout$20.8million)peryearifstaked.
Duringthisconversation,ButerinencouragedthecryptocommunitytorecognizetheEthereumFoundation’sbroadercontributionstothedigitalasset.
Accordingtohim,proceedsfromETHsalesfundcriticalpaymentstothedevelopersandresearchersresponsibleformajornetworkupgrades.TheseincludeEthereum’stransitiontoProof-of-Stake,consistentlowtransactionfees,andrapidprocessingspeedsaveragingaround30seconds.
ButerinalsohighlightedtheFoundation’ssupportforinnovationslikezero-knowledgetechnologiesforenhancedprivacyandaccountabstractionforimprovedsecurity.Additionally,theFoundationsponsorslocalEthereumeventsworldwide,strengtheningthecommunityandnetworksecurity.
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