The Ethereum Foundation, the organization overseeing the development of the second-largest blockchain by market capitalization, is allocating 50,000 ether (ETH), worth about $165.3 million at the time of writing, to participate in the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem.
The move will see the foundation create a 3-of-5 multisig wallet through Safe, which the organization wrote has “proven to be secure and has a great user experience.” An initial test transaction has been sent to the lending protocol Aave, one of the largest in the Ethereum ecosystem behind the liquid staking protocol Lido.
Joining the DeFi ecosystem could help Ethereum Foundation’s coffers grow after shrinking by 39% in less than three years at $970.2 million per 31 October. The non-profit organization holds the majority of its treasury in ether, which recently fell to a four-year low against bitcoin.
According to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, the organization has so far avoided staking its ETH to generate revenue by staking rewards over regulatory and neutrality concerns. At the current CESR Composite Ether Staking Rate, it would be able to generate a 3.31% return on its ether holdings.
Over the weekend, Vitalik Buterin confirmed that the nonprofit is undergoing major changes to its management structure, a process that “has been underway for close to a year.”
In the stated goals, Buterin noted that the move was intended to improve technical expertise within the Ethereum Foundation’s top executives, improve communication and ties between its leadership and Ethereum ecosystem actors, and more actively support app builders, among other things.
He also pointed out that the fund is not seeking to “perform some sort of ideological pivot” or aggressively lobby the regulator, nor is it seeking to become a highly centralized organization.
