The non-profit Ethereum Foundation (EF) opened a multi-signature wallet on the Safe platform to engage in the DeFi ecosystem.
Ethereum Foundation Treasury Update
— hww.eth (@icebearhww) January 20, 2025
The Ethereum Foundation (@ethereumfndn) has set up a new @safe 3-of-5 multisig wallet.
The wallet address is 0x9fC3dc011b461664c835F2527fffb1169b3C213e
An op has been initiated to send 50,000 ETH there, but be patient; due to signing delays,… pic.twitter.com/sIkAlH8ROf
“We’ve initiated a transaction to send 50,000 ETH there, but please be patient—it may take a few days due to signing delays,” wrote Ethereum researcher Xiao-Wei Wang, who recently took on a leadership role at the foundation.
According to her, EF has already made a test transaction on the lending platform Aave.
“Also, Safe has proven its security and usability, so over time we’ll move more of our funds there,” Wang added.
In November 2024, the foundation reported a treasury of approximately $970 million, matching the estimate provided by researcher Justin Drake in September. He noted that the EF has enough resources to operate for roughly 10 years at an annual expenditure of $100 million.
The community has criticized the foundation in the past for occasionally selling some of its crypto holdings—moves some claim put downward pressure on Ether’s market price. Critics also questioned the transparency of EF’s financial activities, suggesting the organization could use staking revenue to cover its expenses.
Recent Disputes Over EF Over the past few days, discussions about the foundation’s management have intensified. A community member, fishbiscuit, described the situation as:
“A week of scapegoating EF CEO Aya Miyaguchi, blaming her for everything under the sun in Ethereum.”
In response, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin announced “significant changes” within the foundation’s leadership. He also laid out the organization’s objectives, which largely address recurring complaints from the community.
Joseph Lubin, founder and CEO of ConsenSys, proposed replacing Miyaguchi with two co-directors—Jérôme de Tichy, president of Ethereum France, and former researcher Danny Ryan.
Context
- In November 2024, Buterin discussed the future of the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap during his presentation at Devcon 2024.