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Ethereum Foundation unstakes $49.6M of ETH from Lido in strategic pivot
The Ethereum Foundation started staking a portion of its ETH treasury in late February with a goal to generate yield and support long-term operations, while also contributing to Ethereum network security.
The Ethereum Foundation (EF), which supports development of the Ethereum blockchain, is pulling roughly 21,270 ETH, worth approximately $49.6 million, out of Lido Finance. The move, first detected by Arkham Intelligence on May 11, represents one of the clearest signals yet that Ethereum’s stewards are rethinking their relationship with third-party staking protocols.
The Ethereum Foundation just unstaked $49.6M of ETH. pic.twitter.com/8GqM1RW8SW
— Arkham (@arkham) May 11, 2026
What’s actually happening
The withdrawal involved depositing wrapped stETH into Lido’s unstaking contract, converting its Lido staking receipts back into plain ETH, a process that takes time due to Lido’s withdrawal queue mechanics.
In late February, the Ethereum Foundation started staking a portion of its ETH holdings as part of an effort to earn yield, fund long-term operations and contribute to the security of the Ethereum network. In early April, the entity had reached its goal of staking 70,000 ETH. That was more than triple the amount pulled from Lido.
There’s also been activity on the selling front. The Foundation executed over-the-counter sales to Bitmine totaling $47 million by May 1, with $24 million of that sold on April 24 alone.