Vitalik Buterin surpasses sales target of 16,384 ETH with a total of $38 million in sales

Vitalik Buterin has surpassed his previously stated plan to sell 16,384 ETH, with total sales now reaching 18,684 ETH.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has surpassed his publicly stated goal of selling 16,384 ETH, with on-chain data showing that total sales have now reached over 18,000 ETH, worth more than $38 million.

The selling, which has accelerated in the past 24 hours, comes as ETH struggles with a multi-month downtrend that has seen it lose nearly 60% of its value since its all-time high above $4,900 last summer.

Sales accelerate beyond the planned target

Blockchain analytics company Lookonchain reported asked on Thursday that wallets linked to Buterin have now crossed the 16,384 ETH threshold he announced in late January.

The blockchain developer first announced its plan on January 31, 2026, stating that it had withdrawn 16,384 ETH to fund the development of open source software and hardware, privacy tools, and security-critical infrastructure projects.

He characterized the move as part of a period of “mild budget cuts” for the Ethereum Foundation, personally taking on funding responsibilities for certain initiatives to ensure the Foundation’s long-term sustainability.

Sales started in early February and took place in several phases. On February 5, Lookonchain reported that Buterin had sold 2,961 ETH worth $6.6 million in three days at an average price of $2,228 per coin.

By February 6, total sales had grown to 6,183 ETH, worth $13.2 million, and the pace accelerated later in the month. On February 22, on-chain data showed Buterin withdrew an additional 3,500 ETH from Aave, and on February 23, Lookonchain marked an additional turnover of 1,869 ETH worth $3.67 million.

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However, the most intense activity occurred between February 25 and 26. According to analyst Ted Pillows, Buterin has sold another $2.83 million worth of ETH in the last few hours alone, bringing his February total to $38.2 million. The turnover included another 2,300 ETH dumped after Ethereum posted a 10% daily gain, the first such move in more than four months.

Transaction data shared by Lookonchain shows multiple swaps are routed through the CoW Protocol, a decentralized exchange aggregator that splits large orders into smaller swaps to minimize market impact. These batches ranged from 7 to 70 WETH and were executed in quick succession, pushing the total past the planned 16,384 ETH to 18,684 ETH.

Despite the divestitures, data from Arkham Intelligence indicates that Buterin remains one of the largest individual holders, with over 240,000 ETH still held in portfolios linked to him.

Ethereum price action

Ethereum’s price has shown significant volatility during Buterin’s selling period. According to CoinGecko, the asset is currently trading around $2,050, up 8.6% in the past 24 hours and 3.6% in the past week. However, the token is still down almost 30% over the past month and almost 18% over a year.

Analyst Ali Martinez noted that Ethereum’s broader decline has coincided with significant ETF outflows, with data showing that institutional products have lost around 563,600 ETH over the past five weeks, worth around $1.13 billion.

If selling pressure continues, Martinez identified several critical downside levels to watch, with $1,800 the immediate pivot, followed by $1,584, $1,238 and a deeper capitulation zone near $1,089.