Vitalik Explains Why the Foundation Does Not Stake ETH Avoiding Forced Positioning During Major Hard Forks
ETH price has not shown remarkable performance this year, making the Ethereum Foundation’s sporadic sell-offs even more conspicuous. When Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin was asked why the Ethereum Foundation does not stake ETH for returns but continues to sell off its holdings, Vitalik provided an explanation in a post.
(Vitalik Reveals Annual Salary: 182,000 Singapore Dollars, Detailed Spending of the Ethereum Foundation Fully Disclosed)
Vitalik Explains ETH Sell-Offs Multiple Times
The crypto community often irrationally criticizes the Ethereum Foundation for selling off ETH, with even minor changes in Vitalik’s wallet address being magnified and scrutinized. In recent days, Vitalik has frequently responded to similar questions and defended his position:
@Hexologist31: Stop dumping.
Vitalik responded:
I haven’t sold any ETH in the past month? My ETH holdings have actually increased.
@NeoCallss: What about the Ethereum Foundation (selling ETH)?
Vitalik pointed out the efforts of the Ethereum Foundation over the past few years:
Ethereum no longer issues 5 million ETH annually due to proof of work.
The costs of using Ethereum are very low today.
Your Ethereum transactions can be completed in 30 seconds, rather than 1-30 minutes (EIP 1559).
You should express some respect for the Ethereum Foundation.
(A Brief History of EIP1559 for Busy People: No, it does not guarantee an increase in Ether)
Vitalik Buying Yachts?
@BarretAche7427: Do you spend hundreds of millions on yachts every year and then discuss a POS that has no innovation and is practically meaningless?
Vitalik stated:
I think I’ve been on (other people’s) yachts less than five times in the past decade, and everyone has a very broad definition of yachts. I prefer to stay in cafes, although sometimes people record strange minute-long videos of me working on my laptop and upload them to social media (please don’t do that).
Reasons for the Ethereum Foundation Not to Stake ETH
Independent researcher @jason_chen998 asked why the Ethereum Foundation does not stake all ETH like the Nobel Prize Foundation and use the returns to cover costs. Why not consider market sentiment and public opinion, insisting on regular ETH sell-offs? You have claimed that Ethereum’s POS is very secure, so why not stake ETH yourselves? Is it a lack of confidence in POS?
Vitalik replied that they do not want to be forced to make an “official choice” in the event of a contentious hard fork.
One internal reason why has been that we don’t want to be in the situation of being forced to make an “official choice” in the event of a contentious hard fork. One interesting idea around this that is being considered is giving some grants in the form of “you can stake our ETH,…
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) October 27, 2024
Ethereum Foundation’s Staking Donation Plan
Vitalik also pointed out that the foundation is considering a staking donation plan, where users can stake the foundation’s ETH. Users can choose how to stake, as long as it is advantageous and ethical, but a portion of the returns needs to be donated to the foundation. Another method involves transferring resources (presumably ETH) to multiple trusted organizations that can represent Ethereum. Despite Vitalik’s active remarks on Ethereum’s development, seemingly adopting a CEO mode, ETH has not shown improvement, and the price has been overshadowed by its top competitor.
(Meme Craze Boosts, Protocol Revenue Soars, SOL/ETH Hits Historic High)
