Vitalik Buterin Sells 17,196 ETH, Exceeds Planned 16,384 ETH Target

[pawanjain]

Vitalik has been selling a lot of ETH lately and that's concerning to me.
Although he has been spending it for the development of Ethereum ecosystem, it still is concerning because it adds to the selling pressure which ETH is already facing.
But it's good that he is transaparent about it and has been selling it in a planned and organized way.

Main concern i have with cryptos is with big whales, especially with Proof of Stake, so imho every time a whale sells, it's a good thing as it gives more people opportunity to buy cheaper, then if they hodled.

Also people were were afraid that eth is centralized around Vitalik, and Vitalik has stepped down from development, and less of a center he is in terms of a bag size, the better it's for the decentralization ideology.

From point of centralization, yes, even I believe that its rather good if the whales sell their coins in the open market.
Firstly, it adds in more liquidity and secondly, it gives the opportunity for others to buy more coins at cheaper prices.
Also, it distributes the coins from a single entity to a multiple entities which is good for decentralization.

[Abiky]

Vitalik has been selling a lot of ETH lately and that's concerning to me.
Although he has been spending it for the development of Ethereum ecosystem, it still is concerning because it adds to the selling pressure which ETH is already facing.
But it's good that he is transaparent about it and has been selling it in a planned and organized way.

Ironically, Vitalik sells ETH when the market is bearish. When everything is "reds and roses", he doesn't sell. At least, that's what I've seen. If he sells during the bear market, it will add more negative pressure to ETH's price.

Fortunately, Bitcoin is starting to rise again. At the time of this writing, ETH has surged all the way to $2.1k per coin. Still, it's far below its last-recorded ATH of nearly $5k. There's a long road ahead before long-term ETH investors are able to make a ROI. Hopefully, ETH makes history by reaching far beyond $5k. With constant network upgrades, I'm sure it will get there soon.

[jostorres]

I don't understand why Vitalik is selling when the price is low and people are bearish. There is just not as much demand in the market right now. He could've sold it when the price was 3k or even 4k with less Ethereum for the same amount while keeping the selling pressure minimal because people are bullish.
Now it seems like a bad move to do. But whatever, At the end of the day it's his Ethereum.

Creating a Cryptocurrency does not make you a good Trader too.  And after all, I have seen MANY people thinking Ethereum will even surpass Bitcoin one day.  And I am guessing if there was one person who would have very high hopes about it, it would be the creator himself.

Even though trading is trading and creating a crypto is for the devs, both can still be related and I think as a crypto dev, we can't avoid to learn trading too as it may benefit in our project. One example is we can do some manipulations but i think this one seems unethical.

Anyways, we don't need to be a good trader but it only needs a common sense that when the market is down, it may also be a bad idea to sell. Vitalik is a smart guy, so maybe he is only cooking something away from our normal understanding? For now it looks like your guess is wrong there because even the ETH founder himself is dumping its creation but maybe it's only an act of humbleness and a respect to Bitcoin.

[o48o]

Creating a Cryptocurrency does not make you a good Trader too.  And after all, I have seen MANY people thinking Ethereum will even surpass Bitcoin one day.  And I am guessing if there was one person who would have very high hopes about it, it would be the creator himself.

Even though trading is trading and creating a crypto is for the devs, both can still be related and I think as a crypto dev, we can't avoid to learn trading too as it may benefit in our project. One example is we can do some manipulations but i think this one seems unethical.

Anyways, we don't need to be a good trader but it only needs a common sense that when the market is down, it may also be a bad idea to sell. Vitalik is a smart guy, so maybe he is only cooking something away from our normal understanding? For now it looks like your guess is wrong there because even the ETH founder himself is dumping its creation but maybe it's only an act of humbleness and a respect to Bitcoin.

First of all, i don't get a sense that one of the characteristics of Vitalic would be competitive. Nothing even hints about that. Being smart has nothing to do with making maximum amount of money. Not all of us are here for that, especially Vitalik who has not only given lot of money to charities, but just listening to him talking, and you wouldn't get a sense that money would mean that much to him as he would want to be known as a "good trader" or some crap like that.

[Masinisa]

show me receipts

[passwordnow]

Ironically, Vitalik sells ETH when the market is bearish. When everything is "reds and roses", he doesn't sell. At least, that's what I've seen. If he sells during the bear market, it will add more negative pressure to ETH's price.

Good observation on when he's selling although it's not the peak and there's better prices before, I guess that this is his own tradition or it's pure coincidence when he has sold those ETHs that he's got. He probably sells when he really needs to do it and he's in need of cash. Not when the market is so much profitable. But it's possible that because he's holding a lot of ETH that he can dump anytime, he's probably couldn't careless.

[Kavelj22]

Ironically, Vitalik sells ETH when the market is bearish. When everything is "reds and roses", he doesn't sell. At least, that's what I've seen. If he sells during the bear market, it will add more negative pressure to ETH's price.

This is one of the biggest drawbacks of centralization in cryptocurrency projects on the blockchain. The inventor is always the big winner by having the chance to keep accumulating valuable asset out of thin of air just because he is the owner of the foundation and can make decision based on his own interest without caring about the token holders. We can understand that he has the right to sell his savings based on hos actual needs at the time of selling, but he should consider the impact of this on the market.

[Abiky]

This is one of the biggest drawbacks of centralization in cryptocurrency projects on the blockchain. The inventor is always the big winner by having the chance to keep accumulating valuable asset out of thin of air just because he is the owner of the foundation and can make decision based on his own interest without caring about the token holders. We can understand that he has the right to sell his savings based on hos actual needs at the time of selling, but he should consider the impact of this on the market.

Any crypto creator can pre-mine or reserve coins before launch. Vitalik is just selling what he had since the very beginning. It would be the same if Bitcoin's Satoshi Nakamoto starts selling his BTC stash. There will be panic across the market, albeit for a short period of time. I wouldn't rule this as "centralization", though. That depends on how the network itself is structured. And so far, neither Vitalik nor Satoshi have "special privileges" within their respective blockchain networks. They only have economic power. But consensus and the core network is in the hands of the community.

I think Vitalik is simply "mimicking" Charlie Lee's (LTC creator) footsteps. The latter simply sold all of his LTC to remove his involvement from the project. Vitalik might be planning to retire from ETH by selling all of his stash. Who knows? I hope that the selling pressure ends soon, so ETH can get right back on track. Only time will tell if it reaches a new ATH.

[TastyChillySauce00]

Another ETH Co-Founder is selling their ETH not too long ago right after vitalik https://www.cryptotimes.io/2026/03/07/ethereum-co-founder-jeffrey-wilcke-moves-157m-in-eth-to-kraken/
What happens with ETH? why it feels like everybody is escaping the sinking ship? Honestly expected better things with Ethereum knowing how successful the blockchain is with all those billions in TVL.

[FinneysTrueVision]

Any crypto creator can pre-mine or reserve coins before launch. Vitalik is just selling what he had since the very beginning. It would be the same if Bitcoin's Satoshi Nakamoto starts selling his BTC stash.

Ethereum did not have a fair launch like Bitcoin did. Vitalik is selling coins that he created out of thin air for himself. He might be selling to fund some noble causes, but I still don’t like the idea of founders dumping their coins, especially in situations where they are allocated a significant percentage of the supply from the beginning.

[Kavelj22]

This is one of the biggest drawbacks of centralization in cryptocurrency projects on the blockchain. The inventor is always the big winner by having the chance to keep accumulating valuable asset out of thin of air just because he is the owner of the foundation and can make decision based on his own interest without caring about the token holders. We can understand that he has the right to sell his savings based on hos actual needs at the time of selling, but he should consider the impact of this on the market.

Any crypto creator can pre-mine or reserve coins before launch. Vitalik is just selling what he had since the very beginning. It would be the same if Bitcoin's Satoshi Nakamoto starts selling his BTC stash. There will be panic across the market, albeit for a short period of time. I wouldn't rule this as "centralization", though. That depends on how the network itself is structured. And so far, neither Vitalik nor Satoshi have "special privileges" within their respective blockchain networks. They only have economic power. But consensus and the core network is in the hands of the community.

I don't see the comparison with bitcoin creator is accurate enough to be convincing. Nothing wrong with pre-mining and this is quite natural. But here the difference: Satoshi created bitcoin protocol, lunch it to mainstream then disappeared like a declaration that he isn't involved with the project anymore. As you can see, he didn't even touch the pre-mined bitcoin to not influence the network, and even one day he will might think to sell his savings, i guess he won't sell huge amounts that can influence the market. At the other hand, Vitalic is practicing centralization at all possible ways. He is still the CEO of the project who has the supreme power to do whatever he might think is good for the project which would always benefits him personally at first place. And as you can see, he doesn't hesitate to sell large eth causing more bearish to the market.

[MArsland]

Any crypto creator can pre-mine or reserve coins before launch. Vitalik is just selling what he had since the very beginning. It would be the same if Bitcoin's Satoshi Nakamoto starts selling his BTC stash.

Ethereum did not have a fair launch like Bitcoin did. Vitalik is selling coins that he created out of thin air for himself. He might be selling to fund some noble causes, but I still don’t like the idea of founders dumping their coins, especially in situations where they are allocated a significant percentage of the supply from the beginning.

This is one of the concerns when a founder remains in the public eye and sells what he created himself, going from zero to millions of dollars. This situation often creates uncertainty for investors.

In contrast, Satoshi Nakamoto created Bitcoin with the clear purpose of serving the public interest. He disappeared from the public eye, and the Bitcoin believed to be his remains untouched. This gives many investors confidence that storing value in Bitcoin feels safer than in other cryptocurrencies where the founders still retain control and can sell most of their assets at any time.