Vitalik Buterin, one of the co-founders of Ethereum, sold 1,869 Ethereum units in the last 48 hours, reaching a transaction volume of approximately $3.67 million. These sales were monitored through on-chain data and coincided with a period when the price gained significant mobility. Ethereum price decreased by 5.7 percent during this period, falling from $ 1,988 to $ 1,875.
Sales and Market Activity
Vitalik Buterin is known in the cryptocurrency industry as one of the founding names of the Ethereum Project. Its recent ETH sales exceeded 15.5 million dollars as of February 2026. In the last of these transactions, Buterin made his sales in small batches via CoW Protocol. This method aims to reduce the pressure that sales create directly on the market.
MEV Resistance and Stablecoin Transitions
During the ETH selloff, Buterin preferred CoW Protocol, which reduces Miner Extractable Value (MEV) risk. Another remarkable step took place on February 22; On this date, Buterin exchanged 428 ETH for 850,178 GHO, the stablecoin of the Aave platform. Shortly before the last sales, a larger liquidation of 6,958 ETH took place, followed by a sharp decline of 22.7 percent in the Ethereum price.
These developments were followed closely due to Ethereum’s second place in terms of market value and its large investor base. The recent sales waves attracted attention, especially with the focus on stablecoins and volatility in the market.
Strategic Liquidity Plan and Disclosures
Buterin’s sales are not considered short-term or unplanned liquidations. Within the scope of the plan announced on January 30, 2026, it was stated that a total of 16,384 ETH would be withdrawn from his wallets and these assets would be used for different purposes. In this context, Buterin aims to support projects operating in areas such as open source software, privacy technologies and biomedical research within the Ethereum ecosystem. Financial support will be distributed through the founder’s charity and support initiative called Kanro.
More than half of the planned amount of ETH has been sold to date. Despite this, Buterin still continues to hold approximately over 240,000 ETH in his wallets and it appears that he continues to be among those who hold the highest amount of Ethereum individually.
In the announcement made on January 30, 2026, Buterin announced that the Ethereum Foundation would enter a “moderate savings period” and stated that it would use 16,384 ETH from its portfolio to finance long-term projects.
Despite the increase in liquidity, it was observed that the fluctuation in the markets and ETH price mobility were closely monitored. It was stated that especially the measures taken against MEV risk and stablecoin conversions were among the strategic moves that attracted attention in this process.
The Ethereum community and investors continue to monitor the impact of Buterin’s sales on the ecosystem and market behavior.
