Vitalik Buterin ETH sales hit $35 million, exceeding planned 16,384 ETH allocation

Ethereum (ETH) co-founder Vitalik Buterin has sold 17,196 ETH since the beginning of February, valued at approximately $34.96 million according to Arkham data flagged by Lookonchain on Thursday. 

The total vale of these transactions has now surpassed the 16,384 ETH capital allocation Buterin initially disclosed in January.

The 17,196 ETH sold represents a 4.9% increase over the 16,384 ETH Buterin said he withdrew on Jan. 30. Buterin described that initial withdrawal, then valued at roughly $45 million, as his "own share of the austerity" during a period in which the Ethereum Foundation is prioritizing long-term sustainability and core protocol development. 

He said at the time that the funds would be deployed over several years to build an "open-source, secure and verifiable full stack" of software and hardware across sectors including finance, communication, governance, operating systems, secure hardware and biotech applications.

The latest tranche of sales occurred as ether posted gains, diverging from previous instances where Buterin's onchain activity correlated with price declines.

According to Lookonchain, during a prior sale of 6,958 ETH for $14.78 million, Ether's price dropped from $2,360 to $1,825, a 22.7% fall. In the two days leading up to Feb. 23, when Buterin sold 1,869 ETH for $3.67 million, Ether fell from $1,988 to $1,875, a 5.7% decline.

Over the last 24 hours, ether gained nearly 10%, outperforming bitcoin, XRP and BNB, which posted single-digit gains amid a broader market uptick. ETH rose from a daily low of $1,816 to trade as high as $2,100 during Thursday's Asia session, according to The Block's ether price page.