[Digital Today reporter Yoonseo Lee] The Ethereum Foundation has sold 10,000 ETH to Bitmine via an over-the-counter (OTC) deal for a second consecutive week.

On May 2 (local time), blockchain outlet CoinPost reported that the foundation sold 10,000 ETH at an average price of $2,292.15 that day. It plans to deploy the roughly $22.92 million raised for core operations including protocol research and development, ecosystem development and community grants.

The deal follows the foundation’s sale of 10,000 ETH on April 25. At the time, it transferred 10,000 ETH to Bitmine at an average price of $2,387. The cumulative sales over two weeks were tallied at about $47 million. The foundation is continuing to raise operating funds through OTC deals rather than public markets, to avoid creating direct selling pressure.

Bitmine is quickly converting the purchased amount into staking. According to figures compiled by blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain, Bitmine staked an additional 162,088 ETH as of May 1. That lifted its total staked ETH to 4,194,029, accounting for 83 percent of its total holdings.

Bitmine’s pace of accumulation is also accelerating. The company began buying Ethereum in June 2025 and has kept increasing its weekly purchases. Based on Arkham data, the value of Bitmine’s staked ETH is about $9.3 billion, representing about 10.5 percent of total Ethereum staking supply. It was also confirmed that its staking share rose to 83 percent after the additional deposit, from about 70 percent last week.

Markets are viewing the structure as a way to limit supply-demand shocks. That is because the foundation transfers the supply through OTC deals and Bitmine absorbs it directly and links it to staking, reducing the amount of selling supply reaching the spot market. On May 2, Ethereum’s price was $2,309.80, up more than 2 percent from the previous day.

Bitmine has also made clear the rationale behind its aggressive Ethereum accumulation strategy. Tom Lee (톰 리), Bitmine’s chairman, said, "Ethereum is the asset that delivered the best performance even in wartime." He then cited its outperformance of the S&P 500 by 2,280 basis points after the outbreak of the U.S.-Iran conflict to justify additional purchases.

Bitmine’s recent moves are being read as a strategy to go beyond simple holding and make staking rewards a key pillar of cash flow. Raising the staking ratio from 70 percent to 83 percent reflects not only expectations of a rise in Ethereum’s price but also an emphasis on securing steady reward income. Attention is now focused on whether the Ethereum Foundation’s OTC sales will continue to be absorbed by large buyers such as Bitmine.

The deal is significant in that the Ethereum Foundation secured operating funds while reducing market impact, and Bitmine absorbed the supply as a staking asset. With both its Ethereum holdings and staking share rising at the same time, it is seen as a trend in which the foundation’s OTC sales and large buyers’ long-term holding strategies are aligning.