Vitalik Buterin sold roughly 17,000 ETH in February, trimming the balance of wallets attributed to him from about 241,000 ETH to 224,000 ETH, according to data from Arkham Intelligence.
The reduction follows a January announcement in which Buterin earmarked 16,384 ETH, valued at about $43 million at the time, to fund privacy-preserving technologies, open hardware, and secure software systems. He described the allocation as a personal initiative and said the capital would be deployed gradually over several years.
Arkham data shows a steady series of outflows across February. He sold 4,325 ETH worth $8 million over the past three days.
🚨Vitalik Buterin sold 4,325 $ETH worth $8 million over the past 3 days.
— HodlFM (@Hodl_fm) February 25, 2026
Does he know Ethereum project is doomed? pic.twitter.com/dLPmAFq0Z4
Lookonchain reported that 675.88 ETH moved within 9-hours.
vitalik.eth(@VitalikButerin) sold another 675.88 $ETH($1.25M) in the past 9 hours.
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) February 25, 2026
In the past month, he has sold 11,422 $ETH($23.33M) in total.
His plan was to sell 16,384 $ETH.
About 70% is done.
There are still 4,962 $ETH($9.5M) left to sell.https://t.co/pMvkZHjIyD pic.twitter.com/JgNY82yAhX
Transactions were routed through the decentralized exchange aggregator CoW Protocol. The sales were split into multiple smaller swaps rather than a single block trade. This method reduces slippage but results in continuous market supply instead of a one-time event. Arkham records also show a withdrawal of 3,500 ETH from Aave during the period.
Ether price decline intensifies scrutiny
The disposals occurred during a sharp market downturn. Ether has fallen about 37% over the past month, according to TradingView data, and traded near $1,900 on Wednesday. Since mid-January, when ETH approached $3,400, the asset has dropped roughly 45%. It remains well below its 2025 peak of above $4,950.
February marked Ethereum’s weakest start to a calendar year on record. The broader crypto market has also contracted. Bitcoin has fallen 24% over the same period, while total digital asset market capitalization shrank by nearly 25%.
Liquidations have compounded volatility. Coinglass reported $115 million in ETH liquidations over a recent 24-hour window. Earlier in February, more than $2.5 billion in leveraged positions were liquidated across the market in a single session.
Spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds have experienced persistent outflows after earlier inflows peaked above $15 billion in October, according to SoSoValue data. Investors had withdrawn more than $3 billion by late February.
Foundation, austerity, and long-term roadmap
Buterin's current 224,000 ETH balance is worth about $434 million at recent prices. That represents roughly 0.20% of the total ETH supply, down from 0.91% in December 2015.
Despite market weakness, protocol development continues. Developers confirmed on Feb. 19 that the Hegota upgrade, scheduled for the second half of 2026, will include FOCIL under EIP-7805. The proposal requires block producers to include transactions from lists submitted by 17 randomly selected validators. EIP-8141 will integrate smart contract wallets and multi-signature setups into the protocol core.
The Glamsterdam upgrade, planned for the first half of 2026, is expected to incorporate up to 22 Ethereum Improvement Proposals. The focus includes Layer-1 scaling, enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation, and gas efficiency.
Staking yields and corporate exposure
More than 30% of the ETH supply remains locked in staking contracts. Annual yields have compressed to around 2.8%. The validator entry queue is near an all-time high, while exits remain limited.
Corporate holders have faced mounting paper losses. Bitmine Immersion Technologies holds more than 4.4 million ETH and is estimated to carry billions in unrealized losses after a 60% price decline over six months.
The combination of founder sales, ETF outflows and compressed staking yields has intensified focus on Ethereum’s token economics. Network usage remains high, with Ethereum processing more than 90% of global stablecoin transactions. The Dencun upgrade in 2024 reduced Layer-2 fees but weakened the deflationary burn mechanism, which altered supply dynamics.
Buterin has not indicated any change to his previously stated plan to distribute funds over several years. February’s transactions reflect partial execution of the January pledge amid a volatile market environment.
Gunel Ismayilova
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