A prominent blockchain researcher is pushing back against critics who say the Ethereum Foundation is dragging down ETH’s fundamentals. William Mougayar—Toronto-based investor, researcher, and author—argued in a post that the Ethereum Foundation (EF) is performing exactly the role it was designed for: a protocol steward that should diminish its own centrality over time, rather than act as a marketing engine for ETH or the ecosystem.
In a message posted on X titled “Leave the Foundation Alone,” Mougayar contends that ETH, Ethereum, and the Ethereum Foundation are three distinct entities with separate trajectories. He described the asset as money, the infrastructure as shared compute, and the Foundation as a non-profit steering the protocol toward irrelevance for its founders—an arrangement he says is essential for long-term decentralization. He warned that conflating the three leads to misguided forecasts and misplaced anger.
The exchange comes amid renewed chatter within the crypto community about the EF’s recent moves—such as ETH sales, unstaking activity, and a period of relative quiet from the organization—that critics claim undermine ETH’s price performance.
Despite the controversy, Mougayar’s stance underscores a broader debate: should a foundation that helps shepherd a public protocol actively market the asset or should it minimize its footprint to ensure the protocol survives beyond any one group’s interests? He likened calls for the EF to “king-making” to expecting the IETF to run Super Bowl ads for TCP/IP, arguing that foundational bodies are not tasked with such promotion.
The discussion unfolds as ETH trades near $2,117, up about 4.7% on the day, according to market data. Yet the token remains well off its peak, trading more than 57% below its all-time high of roughly $4,953 reached in August last year. The price backdrop adds nuance to the EF’s strategic moves and the community’s reactions.
The timeline around the EF’s liquidity actions has added fuel to the debate. In recent weeks, the foundation completed a third over-the-counter sale of ETH to BitMine Immersion Technologies, offloading 10,000 ETH at an average price of $2,292—roughly $22.9 million, according to Cointelegraph’s reporting. When included with two earlier transactions—5,000 ETH in March and another 10,000 ETH in the prior week—the foundation’s ETH sales to BitMine totalled about $47 million in recent weeks. The timing of these sales has been closely watched as a barometer for the EF’s stance on liquidity management and market signaling.
At the same time, the EF has unstaked substantial quantities of ETH. In the same period, the foundation unstaked 17,035 ETH, worth about $40 million. Earlier in the month, it also unstaked 21,270 ETH from the Lido validator pool, worth nearly $50 million. These movements—combined with ongoing OTC sales—have fed ongoing speculation about the EF’s impact on ETH’s circulating supply and liquidity, and how investors should interpret the foundation’s evolving balance sheet.
Key takeaways
- The Ethereum Foundation frames its role as a protocol steward aiming to reduce centrality over time, rather than acting as a marketer for ETH or the ecosystem.
- Critics argue that EF activity—sales, unstaking, and silence—can influence ETH price, while supporters say such moves reflect prudent liquidity management and long-term protocol health.
- Recent EF liquidity moves include a 10,000 ETH OTC sale to BitMine at an average of $2,292, plus earlier sales, totaling roughly $47 million in recent weeks.
- Unstaking actions—17,035 ETH (~$40 million) and 21,270 ETH (~$50 million) from Lido—have added to the perception of the EF gradually reducing its on-chain footprint.
- The debate touches on broader questions of decentralization, governance, and market signaling in a post-merge Ethereum ecosystem.
EF’s stated mission vs. market perceptions
According to Mougayar, the EF is deliberately hardening the protocol by shipping upgrades and funding research that others do not fund. He described this as a deliberate “subtraction path”—a shift toward a future where the world does not rely on the EF as a central node. In his view, this approach is what enables Ethereum to evolve beyond the influence of any single organization, which in turn can foster resilience as the network grows.
That framing stands in contrast to increasing calls within parts of the community for more aggressive outreach or institutional engagement from the Foundation. Mougayar’s analogy—comparing the EF to a protocol standard body rather than a marketing arm—highlights a core tension in how readers interpret the foundation’s responsibilities in a rapidly maturing ecosystem.
Market observers, however, note that the EF’s actions are not occurring in a vacuum. The ETH price, while resilient in the near term, has faced sustained pressure from broader crypto cycles, macro factors, and debates about token supply, staking dynamics, and institutional participation. The latest price moves—ETH up roughly 4.7% on the day—show that the market remains sensitive to liquidity shifts and the narrative around Ethereum’s governance and development path.
Past reporting from Cointelegraph on the EF’s liquidity activity provides context for the latest moves. The 10,000 ETH sale to BitMine was the third OTC transaction in a sequence that has now moved tens of millions of dollars in ETH to a single buyer. Separately, the foundation’s unstaking activity has added a new layer of complexity to supply dynamics, particularly as ETH approaches key milestones in staking and network upgrades. The combined effect of sales and unstaking continues to shape debates about how the EF’s balance sheet and decision-making influence investor sentiment and price action.
For readers seeking more granular context on these transactions, the accompanying coverage reported that the third OTC sale occurred at an average price of $2,292 per ETH, and that the foundation’s unstaking volumes include a notable 17,035 ETH from staking deployments and an additional 21,270 ETH drawn from Lido staking pools—figures that underscore the scale of the Foundation’s liquidity management in the current cycle.
As the community digests these moves, observers will be watching not only ETH’s price trajectory but also the cadence of upgrades and the Foundation’s funding of independent research. In a market where liquidity and developer momentum are often intertwined, the EF’s strategy to fund research and advance protocol improvements without heavy promotional efforts remains a defining feature of Ethereum’s evolution.
Looking ahead, industry watchers will ask: where does the EF’s subtraction path lead next? Will further upgrades continue to comingle with liquidity actions, and how will institutional actors respond to a Foundation that openly embraces a reduced role in day-to-day market signaling? If the EF maintains its course, the next few quarters could illuminate how a decentralized protocol sustains momentum while gradually stepping back from direct influence—an experiment with implications for governance, funding models, and long-term network health.
Readers should stay attentive to forthcoming upgrades and EF-funded research milestones, as these signals will shape how investors and builders interpret the Foundation’s balancing act between stewardship and autonomy. Whether this strategy will translate into clearer long-term value for ETH holders remains a central question for the ecosystem in the months ahead.
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