Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has offloaded roughly 17,196 ETH in 2026, worth about $35 million. On-chain tracking firm Arkham flagged that his selling pace has accelerated in recent months.

Buterin still holds over 224,000 ETH, worth around $490 million at current prices. He said the sales fund ecosystem development and open-source projects while the Ethereum Foundation enters what he called a “mild austerity” phase.

That may be true. But when the creator of the asset is consistently selling into weakness, it doesn’t exactly inspire buying confidence. ETH is down over 40% from its cycle high. The optics here are hard to spin as bullish.