Ethereum Foundation Sells $10M in ETH Directly to Tom Lee's BitMine in Quiet OTC Deal
π€ The Deal That Skipped the Open Market The Ethereum Foundation has sold 5,000 ETH to BitMine Immersion Technologies in a $10 million over-the-counter transaction, The Block reported on March 9, 2026. The deal was struck while ether was trading near $2,075, giving the sale anβ¦
π€ The Deal That Skipped the Open Market
The Ethereum Foundation has sold 5,000 ETH to BitMine Immersion Technologies in a $10 million over-the-counter transaction, The Block reported on March 9, 2026. The deal was struck while ether was trading near $2,075, giving the sale an implied price of roughly $2,000 per token. Rather than routing the sale through a centralized exchange, the foundation executed the transaction directly with BitMine, the world's largest publicly traded ETH treasury company. The choice to go OTC is deliberate and meaningful: it keeps large sell orders off public order books, reducing the kind of downward price pressure that has repeatedly sparked community frustration in the past.
π¦ BitMine's Growing Ethereum Empire
BitMine Immersion Technologies, chaired by Wall Street veteran and Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee, has built one of the most aggressive ETH accumulation strategies in corporate history. The company currently holds over 4.5 million ETH valued at approximately $9.3 billion, representing roughly 3.7% of circulating supply and making it the single largest publicly traded holder of ether. BitMine's accumulation strategy mirrors the MicroStrategy Bitcoin playbook: raise capital, buy the asset, hold through volatility, and use the treasury as a compounding yield engine through staking. The company has been staking a significant portion of its holdings, with over $6 billion of its ETH actively earning staking rewards.
π Inside the Ethereum Foundation's Treasury Policy
The Ethereum Foundation is not selling ETH on a whim. In June 2025, the foundation published a formal treasury policy that governs how and when it converts ETH into fiat. Under that framework, the EF targets annual operating expenditures of no more than 15% of its total treasury, while maintaining a 2.5-year cash runway as a buffer against multi-year market downturns. The foundation's treasury stood at roughly $974 million as of Q3 2025, with approximately 88% held in major crypto assets. Proceeds from the BitMine sale will fund core operations: protocol research and development, Ethereum ecosystem grants, and community initiatives. The policy reflects a deliberate shift toward transparency and predictability in how the foundation manages its finances.
π A Pattern Taking Shape: The Second OTC Deal
This transaction is not the first time the Ethereum Foundation has chosen a corporate treasury buyer over an open-market sale. In July 2025, the foundation sold 10,000 ETH to SharpLink Gaming in what was described at the time as the first-ever deal of its kind between the EF and a publicly listed company. SharpLink paid an average of $2,572.37 per ETH in that $25.7 million transaction. The BitMine deal marks the second OTC sale of this type and suggests the foundation is formalizing a model for offloading ETH to long-term institutional buyers rather than dumping tokens on exchanges. For both buyers, acquiring ETH directly from the foundation carries a symbolic weight alongside the financial one: it signals mission alignment with the protocol's core stewards.
π₯ Why the Community Cares About How ETH Gets Sold
The method of ETH sales matters enormously to the Ethereum community. In September 2025, the foundation announced plans to sell 10,000 ETH through centralized exchanges, drawing sharp criticism from DeFi participants who argued the move added unnecessary sell pressure to an already struggling market. Community members pushed for OTC channels or borrowing against the treasury instead. The backlash echoed an earlier episode in August 2024 when the foundation deposited 35,000 ETH worth $94 million to the Kraken exchange within hours of ETH rallying 6%, prompting accusations of poorly timed market dumping. The shift toward OTC deals with institutional buyers appears to be a direct response to that feedback, and investors and ecosystem participants appear to be receiving it positively.
π― What This Means for Ethereum Investors
For investors watching the ETH market, the growing pattern of OTC sales to corporate treasury firms carries several implications worth tracking. First, it removes supply from circulation in a more controlled way: companies like BitMine and SharpLink are staking their acquired ETH, reducing liquid supply. Second, it validates the corporate treasury playbook for Ethereum at a time when ETH is trading roughly 57% below its 2025 all-time high near $4,866, and institutional buyers are framing the dip as an accumulation opportunity. Tom Lee has publicly predicted ETH could eventually reach $250,000, a figure many analysts view with skepticism, but the structural argument, that ETH functions as productive infrastructure rather than a purely speculative asset, is gaining traction among institutional allocators. The EF's willingness to become a counterparty to these deals suggests a more collaborative relationship between the foundation and corporate holders is taking hold.
Sources
https://www.theblock.co/post/393614/ethereum-foundation-sells-5000-eth-to-tom-lees-bitmine-in-10-million-otc-deal https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2025/07/11/ethereum-foundation-sells-10000-eth-to-sharplink-in-first-such-otc-deal https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2025/06/05/ethereum-foundation-unveils-new-treasury-policy-with-15-opex-cap https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/03/09/mini-crypto-winter-nearly-over-says-tom-lee-as-bitmine-ramps-up-pace-of-ether-acquisition
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