Ethereum Foundation Sells ETH Worth $23M to BitMine Again

The Ethereum Foundation sells ETH to BitMine Immersion Technologies once again, completing its third over-the-counter transaction with the company in just over two months. The latest deal, announced Friday via an X post, moved 10,000 ETH at an average price of $2,292 per coin, bringing the total value of the sale to roughly $22.9 million. Ethereum was trading at approximately $2,305 at the time, up about 2% in the prior 24 hours according to data from CoinGecko.

Third OTC Sale Funds Foundation Operations and R&D

The Ethereum Foundation has now completed three separate over-the-counter sales to BitMine Immersion Technologies since March 2026, with the latest transaction of 10,000 ETH at $2,292 per coin bringing the running total across all three deals to 25,000 ETH. The Foundation was clear about where the proceeds go.

“This sale funds the Ethereum Foundation’s core operations and activities, including protocol R&D, ecosystem development, community grant funding and more,” the Foundation posted, repeating language it has used to explain each previous sale. The statement mirrors what was said when the Foundation offloaded 10,000 ETH to BitMine the prior Friday at an average price of $2,387 per coin.

The first transaction in this series came in March, when the Foundation sold 5,000 ETH to BitMine at roughly $2,043 per coin. At the time, BitMine was still an emerging name in the Ethereum treasury space. Across the three deals, the Foundation received an average blended price somewhere between $2,043 and $2,387, meaning it sold into a period of relative weakness compared to last summer’s highs. Before these sales began, the Foundation also completed a 10,000 ETH sale to Ethereum Foundation third OTC sale BitMine 22.9 million ETH rival treasury firm Sharplink last July, suggesting a broader strategy of direct institutional placements rather than open-market dumps.

This sale funds the Ethereum Foundation’s core operations and activities, including protocol R&D, ecosystem development, community grant funding and more.

Why Does the Ethereum Foundation Sells ETH in OTC Deals?

The Foundation’s preference for over-the-counter sales rather than exchange liquidations is deliberate. Selling large blocks of ETH on open markets would create visible sell pressure and likely move the price against the Foundation mid-trade. OTC deals let the Foundation agree on a fixed price with a counterparty and transfer the tokens cleanly, without broadcasting the transaction to the order book.

BitMine, as the largest Ethereum treasury company by holdings, has clear appetite for large-block purchases. The firm has been systematically accumulating ETH throughout 2026, and the Foundation’s structured OTC sales give BitMine a predictable acquisition channel at negotiated rates. This dynamic works for both sides: the Foundation locks in a price and avoids market impact, and BitMine gets ETH without having to bid against itself on exchanges.

The repeated nature of the sales, three transactions in under ten weeks, also points to something more systematic than opportunistic. The Foundation is running operations and must fund them. Protocol research, developer grants, and ecosystem programs are not cheap, and the ETH treasury is the funding mechanism. These sales are not a sign of panic or disbelief in Ethereum’s long-term trajectory. They are recurring budget allocations paid in the native asset. Still, the timing, with ETH sitting well below last summer’s highs, gives each sale an unfortunate optics problem that the Foundation has not fully escaped.

According to Ethereum price May 2026 data, ETH is up 7.5% over the past month and about 2% in the 24 hours surrounding this sale, suggesting some momentum returning to the asset even as it remains far from its peak.

BitMine Sits on a $6.3 Billion Unrealized Loss

BitMine Immersion Technologies, chaired by longtime bull Tom Lee, is not having a great year on paper. The company held more than 5.078 million ETH as of Monday, with total holdings valued at over $11.7 billion. But those holdings are sitting on an unrealized loss exceeding $6.3 billion, because BitMine accumulated heavily when Ethereum was trading near or above $4,000, and the price has not recovered to those levels.

Ethereum reached a high of $4,946 last summer, a period that kicked off a wave of corporate treasury buying across the Ethereum ecosystem. BitMine was among the most aggressive buyers, and the math is now working against them. At $2,305 per ETH, the company needs the price to more than double to get back to breakeven on its heaviest purchases.

That said, BitMine has not slowed down. Earlier this week, the company disclosed its biggest Bitcoin acquisition of the year, buying 101,901 ETH over the previous week at a cost of roughly $235 million. BitMine is not acting like a firm that is worried about its position. It is acting like a firm that believes lower prices are a buying opportunity, not a warning sign. Whether that conviction pays off depends entirely on whether Ethereum finds a path back toward its previous highs.

According to BitMine Immersion Technologies 5.078 million ETH holdings data, the company’s total ETH holdings have grown dramatically throughout 2026 despite the price headwinds, reflecting a conviction-driven accumulation strategy at scale.

BMNR Stock Climbs Even as ETH Struggles to Recover

BitMine’s stock, trading under the ticker BMNR, ticked up on Friday, rising 1.75% to $21.78. That modest daily gain sits on top of a stronger monthly performance: BMNR is up more than 10% over the past 30 days, according to Yahoo Finance data. Ethereum itself gained 7.5% during that same stretch, meaning the stock has outperformed the underlying asset it holds.

That divergence is worth paying attention to. When a treasury stock outperforms the asset it holds, it usually means the market is pricing in something beyond pure NAV, things like management credibility, additional revenue streams from BitMine’s mining and immersion cooling operations, or simple momentum trading by retail investors who want crypto exposure through an equity wrapper.

Tom Lee’s profile as a perennial crypto optimist and market commentator likely helps BMNR stay in the conversation. Lee is a well-known figure in financial media, and his name brings visibility to BitMine that a less-prominent chairman would not. The Foundation’s willingness to keep selling directly to BitMine rather than to any other treasury firm also implicitly signals a degree of institutional credibility for the company.

What the next few weeks hold depends on ETH price action. If the 7.5% monthly gain extends into a broader recovery, both BMNR and the Foundation’s subsequent sales will look like well-timed moves. If ETH stalls out here, the Foundation will face more uncomfortable questions about selling at discounted prices, and BitMine’s unrealized loss column will keep growing. The Foundation shows no sign of slowing the sales program, so the pressure is now on Ethereum itself to move.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Every investment and trading decision involves risk. Readers should conduct their own research before making any financial decisions.