The Ethereum Foundation has taken a decisive step in reshaping how it manages its vast crypto reserves.
Key Takeaways
- The Ethereum Foundation has begun staking its treasury, starting with 2,016 ETH and targeting 70,000 ETH.
- Staking rewards will fund R&D, ecosystem growth, and grants.
- The move supports a shift toward active treasury management and reduces reliance on ETH sales.
- The strategy aims to strengthen network security while generating sustainable yield.
On February 24, 2026, the organization confirmed it had begun staking part of its treasury, starting with an initial deposit of 2,016 ETH. The broader plan involves committing around 70,000 ETH to staking in the months ahead.
The move reflects a structural change in how the foundation approaches capital management. Instead of passively holding large ETH reserves, the foundation is now deploying assets to generate protocol-native yield while reinforcing Ethereum’s security model.
Staking Strategy Designed for Security and Sustainability
The foundation’s staking program serves two parallel goals – strengthening the Ethereum network and building a recurring revenue stream.
Roughly 70,000 ETH is expected to be staked in total. All rewards generated from validators will flow directly back into the foundation’s treasury, funding core research and development, ecosystem expansion, and community grant programs.
To implement the initiative, the foundation is using open-source infrastructure developed by Attestant. This includes Dirk, a distributed signing system designed to remove single points of failure across jurisdictions, and Vouch, a multi-client coordination tool aimed at reducing reliance on any single execution client.
Infrastructure is distributed across several countries, combining hosted services with self-managed hardware. The foundation is also intentionally running minority clients to support client diversity and reduce systemic risk within Ethereum’s validator ecosystem.
Policy Shift Toward Active Asset Management
The staking rollout follows a treasury management policy introduced in June 2025 that marked a philosophical turning point for the organization. The policy formalized a transition toward active asset deployment rather than passive storage.
Under the framework, the foundation targets annual spending of roughly 15 percent of its treasury while maintaining a 2.5-year operational runway. The approach is counter-cyclical – increasing spending during market downturns and conserving resources during bull markets.
By staking 70,000 ETH – valued at approximately $128 million in February 2026 – the foundation could generate an estimated $3.6 million per year assuming a 2.8 percent yield. This income is intended to reduce reliance on periodic ETH sales, which historically drew criticism and occasionally contributed to short-term market volatility.
Beyond staking, the policy also allows selective participation in vetted DeFi protocols and exploration of tokenized real-world assets, including U.S. Treasuries, as a way to stabilize fiat reserves and diversify risk exposure.
Treasury Snapshot and Security Upgrades
As of late 2024, the foundation reported total reserves of roughly $970 million. Of that amount, about $788 million consisted of crypto assets – primarily ETH – while approximately $181 million was held in non-crypto holdings.
In October 2025, the foundation completed the migration of more than 160,000 ETH into Safe smart contract accounts, strengthening treasury security through multisig controls and enabling smoother interaction with DeFi protocols.
The decision to begin staking at scale signals that the foundation is entering a new phase – one where treasury capital is expected not only to safeguard Ethereum’s long-term mission but also to actively participate in securing and sustaining the network itself.
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Source: https://coindoo.com/ethereum-foundation-to-stake-70000-eth-under-new-treasury-strategy/