Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of the Ethereum blockchain, significantly reduced his ETH holdings in February, selling over 8000 coins for more than $15 million. The recent transactions were part of a previously announced plan to fund the development of the Ethereum ecosystem and related initiatives.
This is reported by Business • Media
Details of the Sales and Market Situation
According to Lookonchain, in just two days — from February 22 to 23, 2026 — Buterin sold 1869 ETH for approximately $3.67 million and withdrew about 3500 ETH from the Aave protocol. These actions occurred against the backdrop of a continuing decline in the price of Ethereum, which had decreased by nearly 36% over the past month and temporarily dropped to $1750.
“In the last 2 days, he sold 1869 ETH ($3.67 million). During this time, ETH fell from $1988 to $1875, a decrease of 5.7%. The last time he sold 6958 ETH ($14.78 million), ETH dropped from $2360 to $1825 — a decline of 22.7%.”
At the time of preparing this material, the ETH price had stabilized around $1900, with a market capitalization of the cryptocurrency at $229 billion. The asset has been in a downward trend for over a year, although just last year its price exceeded $4900.
Purpose of the Transactions and Buterin’s Asset Structure
Since the beginning of February, Buterin has sold over 8000 ETH, which was the realization of a plan announced at the end of January regarding the withdrawal and subsequent sale of 16,384 ETH. The funds raised are directed towards supporting the development of the Ethereum ecosystem, financing projects, and launching new initiatives as part of the Ethereum Foundation’s cost optimization strategy.
Despite a series of large transactions, Buterin remains one of the largest holders of ETH. According to Arkham Intelligence, he holds over 224,000 ETH (approximately $427 million).
At the same time, other major market participants continue to accumulate Ethereum. Among them are ShapeShift founder Erik Voorhees and a key player associated with Matrixport.
Earlier, Vitalik Buterin proposed a new mechanism for protecting Ethereum wallets using transaction simulation.