[DigitalToday reporter Yoonseo Lee] The Ethereum Foundation has increased market wariness by unstaking 21,271 ETH.

On May 11 (local time), blockchain media outlet Cryptopolitan reported the tokens were worth about $49.66 million, the foundation's second major liquidity move in the past two weeks.

The move removes more than a third of the 70,000 ETH the foundation had accumulated through staking. On-chain data firm Arkham Intelligence detected the unstaking, and on-chain tracking firm NS3.AI put the foundation's balance at 103,731 ETH after the withdrawal.

Market reaction was generally closer to caution than mixed. The Ethereum Foundation had reached its target of staking a total of 70,000 ETH by depositing 2,016 ETH in February 2026, 22,517 ETH in March and additional tokens in April. Several weeks after hitting that target, it reversed about 30 percent at once, stoking views that the foundation's management direction may be wavering again.

The community's scrutiny has sharpened amid a policy shift at the foundation. It has previously funded operations by selling ether on the open market, a method that faced criticism for a long time. In June 2025, it changed its treasury policy and said it would shift its focus from repeated token sales to generating returns through staking and decentralised finance. The latest unstaking has drawn criticism that it runs counter to that stance.

Earlier this month, the foundation also sold 10,000 ETH to BitMine Immersion Technologies via an over-the-counter (OTC) transaction. Combined with the latest unstaking, the foundation has moved more than 31,000 ETH from its staking or holding position.

The foundation's own treasury policy states that it determines how much ether to sell in the next quarter based on how far assets deviate from an internally set buffer target. It says converted funds are generally used for research, foundation operations and ecosystem grants. Still, it cannot be assumed that the latest move will immediately lead to sales, because institutions or organisations may also rebalance portfolios or change asset allocation.

Even so, the market is taking issue with the speed and scale. Crypto analyst kirbycrypto wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that the foundation unstaked 30 percent of its position just one month after completing 70,000 ETH of staking. He also cited the foundation's timeline of reviewing staking in January 2025 and introducing a treasury policy in June that year, raising questions about the consistency of the current schedule.

The community has also cited recent exchange transfers by large holders and continued weakness in the ETH/BTC pair. Some voiced concerns that if large institutional wallets' withdrawals and sales overlap in this environment, market stability could be shaken.

The next focus is the route taken by the unstaked ether. Traders and analysts are likely to track on-chain data to see whether the tokens move into exchange wallets or are routed to OTC channels.

"The Ethereum Foundation Does It Again! Just one month after staking 70,000 ETH, the EF has un-staked 21,270 ETH or 30% of original stake. Timeline: Jan 20, 2025: EF Exploring Staking Options June 4, 2025: Introduces Treasury Policy \"Core deployments are re-evaluated… https://t.co/lSpIsty9e0 pic.twitter.com/fyTdQNfwnJ"