The Ethereum Foundation has begun staking part of its treasury, depositing 2,016 ETH and outlining plans to stake about 70,000 ETH in total as it becomes a direct participant in network consensus.
The foundation said all staking rewards will flow back into its treasury to fund protocol research, ecosystem development and grants, reinforcing its long-term commitment to the network.
The initial deposit involved 2,016 Ether on Tuesday, with the broader 70,000 ETH allocation positioning one of Ethereum’s most influential entities as an active validator rather than a passive holder.
New validators are being operated using open-source tools Dirk and Vouch, originally developed by Attestant and now part of Bitwise’s institutional staking stack, with Dirk acting as a distributed signer and Vouch as a validator client.
“Built with the mindset to fulfill the duties of an honest validator in the safest way possible,”
Said Chris Berry, head of Ethereum onchain engineering at Bitwise Onchain Solutions, highlighting a focus on client diversity, non-custodial control and compliance.
The foundation said its configuration employs minority clients alongside a mix of hosted infrastructure and self-managed hardware across several jurisdictions to avoid a “single point of failure” and model best practices for institutional staking.
The move comes as roughly 30% of total ETH supply is now staked, with large providers such as Lido and Coinbase controlling significant validator share, intensifying debate over decentralisation and concentration risks within Ethereum’s evolving staking landscape.
At the time of reporting, Ethereum price was $1,860.14.