Ethereum Foundation moves $654 million in ETH amid online scrutiny of group's transfers

The Ethereum Foundation transferred 160,000 ETH (about $654 million) to a wallet that, has in the past, been used for selling Ethereum, according to Arkham Intelligence.

"This wallet has only made significant transfers to: Kraken Deposit SharpLink Gaming [and] a multisig that sells ETH," Arkham said in a post to X. The foundation's co-Executive Director Hsiao-Wei Wang quickly took to X to say the transfer was part of a scheduled wallet migration.

Arkham's post flagging the transfer generated plenty of other replies, with some commenting on the recent scrutiny of the non-profit Ethereum Foundation's spending. Former lead developer of Geth at the Ethereum Foundation, Péter Szilágyi, ignited a debate within the crypto community in recent days after re-circulating a letter he sent to foundation leadership last year.

In the letter, Szilágyi claimed, among other things, that the success of new Ethereum-related projects depended heavily on relationships with the foundation's inner circle, namely co-founder Vitalik Buterin. Szilágyi also said that his total compensation over six years at the Foundation amounted to about $625,000 even though Ethereum's market value grew into the hundreds of billions during the same period. Some people online have sided with Szilágyi, criticizing the low level of compensation paid by the foundation.

In recent months, the Ethereum Foundation has undergone major restructuring. including announcing a round of developer layoffs and a plan for managing and allocating its remaining ETH reserves.