23 days to liquidate 19,268 ETH: Vitalik project budget address sale panoramic tracking

On February 26, 2026, on-chain data shows that all ETH in the project funding address tagged as 0xfeb by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has been emptied. This structured sale, which began in early February and lasted 23 days, concluded with a total of 19,268 ETH (approximately $38.77 million). This figure is slightly higher than the 16,384 ETH sale plan announced at the end of January.

Against the backdrop of ongoing market volatility, this liquidation has attracted widespread attention and discussion. Based on verifiable on-chain data, this article outlines the full event, dissects multiple perspectives, and explores the potential industry impact.

Event Overview: A Planned Asset Reorganization

The core facts of this sale are clear and verifiable. At the end of January, Vitalik publicly stated that the Ethereum Foundation was entering a period of moderate contraction. He would personally assume some of the Foundation’s funding responsibilities and planned to sell 16,384 ETH, with the proceeds used to develop an open-source, secure, and verifiable full-stack hardware and software system to protect personal privacy and the public environment.

The on-chain execution started on February 2 and ended on February 26. Final data shows that the actual sale volume was 19,268 ETH, with an average transaction price of about $2,012, totaling approximately $38.77 million. These ETH were exchanged for various stablecoins, including USDt, GHO, EURC, PYUSD, LUSD, among others, dispersed within the Ethereum DeFi ecosystem.

Background and Timeline: From Announcement to Completion

Placing this event on a timeline highlights its planned nature and transparency.

• End of January (Pre-announcement): Vitalik publicly disclosed the intention to sell and the use of funds, specifying the scale of 16,384 ETH, emphasizing that the proceeds would support privacy, open hardware, and verifiable software development.
• February 2 – February 25 (Execution phase): On-chain records show that the sale was carried out in batches and small amounts via the decentralized trading aggregator CoW Protocol. This approach significantly reduced direct impact on the secondary market. By February 25, a total of 15,479 ETH had been sold, achieving 94% of the original plan.
• February 26 (Closure phase): The remaining ETH was sold out within hours, with the total exceeding the initial plan by 2,884 ETH, officially ending the 23-day sale cycle.

Data and Structural Analysis: Low-Impact Execution Strategy

From a market impact perspective, the structured nature of this sale is noteworthy.

Facts: Total sale of 19,268 ETH, worth about $38.77 million, over 23 days. The average sale price was $2,012. Funds were exchanged into multiple stablecoins, including both centralized and decentralized versions.

Data support: According to Gate.io market data, as of February 26, 2026, Ethereum (ETH) was priced at $2,064.85, with a 24-hour trading volume of $553.18 million. Breaking down the $38.77 million sell pressure over 23 days results in an average daily sale of about $1.68 million. This scale accounts for roughly 0.33% of ETH’s estimated daily trading volume of $500 million, indicating it was within market absorption capacity. Additionally, Vitalik’s associated address still holds about 224,000 ETH, meaning this sale only accounts for approximately 7.9% of his total holdings, not a systemic liquidation.

Viewpoint: Using CoW Protocol for batch small trades rather than large sell-offs on centralized exchanges is a mature low-impact market operation, reflecting considerations for liquidity and holder sentiment.

Public Opinion Dissection: From Emotional Reactions to Rational Attribution

Market interpretations of this event have evolved significantly. Currently, the main viewpoints can be summarized as follows:

Technical Funding Theory: This is the primary emphasis repeatedly stressed by Vitalik himself and mainstream deep analyses. The proceeds are intended to support privacy, open hardware, and other development ecosystems, representing a positive act of reinvesting personal assets into public goods.

Asset Rebalancing Theory: As a founder, Vitalik’s personal assets are highly concentrated in ETH. Converting part of his wealth into various stablecoins is a routine wealth management and risk diversification behavior, not necessarily a bearish signal on the project.

Market Disruption Theory: Although the motivation is clear, in a fragile market environment where ETH has declined about 35% within a month, any large address’s outflow can be amplified in interpretation. Objectively, continuous selling increases supply pressure, potentially intensifying short-term pessimism.

Authenticity of Narrative: Distinguishing Facts, Opinions, and Speculation

When analyzing this event, it is crucial to clearly differentiate among three levels of information.

Facts (On-chain verifiable):

• Time: February 2 – February 26, 2026.
• Quantity: Total of 19,268 ETH sold.
• Amount: About $38.77 million, average price $2,012.
• Method: Executed in batches via CoW Protocol, exchanged into multiple stablecoins.
• Declaration: Vitalik announced in January that the funds would be used to support privacy, security, and open-source projects.

Opinions (Market interpretations):

• Viewpoint A: This is a full realization of positive news; as planned selling pressure dissipates, market sentiment is expected to recover.
• Viewpoint B: In a bear market, any new sell pressure is a concern. Although the amount is small, its symbolic significance may suppress bottom-fishing enthusiasm.

Speculation (Logical deduction):

The core of speculation is the future flow of these funds. If the $38.77 million is reinvested into the ecosystem as development funding over the coming months, some of it will inevitably be used by developers for operational costs (possibly converted again into stablecoins or fiat), creating secondary selling pressure. However, this process is slow and dispersed, with a much smaller impact than the initial concentrated sale.

Industry Impact Analysis: Separating Individual Actions from Market Mechanisms

This event provides an important case study on how markets absorb known, structured individual sell-offs.

Market Maturity: From price movements, the market did not panic or crash during this 23-day sale. This indicates that current crypto market depth and diversity are sufficient to absorb daily outflows of tens of millions of dollars. Under transparent information and clear expectations, the market has self-regulating capacity.

De-mystifying Founder Actions: This event reinforces the understanding that a founder’s wallet is not a barometer of project performance. Vitalik’s sale follows a clear, non-speculative business logic, helping the market move away from naive interpretations equating founder buying/selling with bullish or bearish signals, and instead focus on fundamentals and macro liquidity.

On-chain Transparency as a Double-Edged Sword: The openness of on-chain data allows the market to track whale movements in real-time and digest expectations early. However, it also means that any large transfer lacking background explanation can trigger unnecessary FUD on social media. Vitalik’s proactive disclosure of fund use effectively reduces negative impacts caused by information asymmetry.

Multi-Scenario Evolution and Projection

Based on the completed sale, future market developments will revolve around the subsequent flow of funds and ecosystem growth.

Scenario 1: Certainty in implementation, focus on fundamentals (higher short-term probability)

With the end of the planned 23-day sale, short-term selling pressure enters a vacuum. Market attention will shift to Ethereum’s staking yields, ecosystem activity, macro environment, and upcoming technical upgrades.

Scenario 2: Funds re-enter the ecosystem, driving growth (mid-term projection)

In 3–6 months, if the privacy and security projects funded by Vitalik’s commitment gradually materialize, the $38.77 million will translate into developer vitality. If these projects can push Ethereum’s ecosystem forward in key areas, the current selling pressure may evolve into future ecosystem value.

Scenario 3: External competition intensifies, market confidence wanes (reverse scenario)

Other blockchains achieve breakthroughs in privacy or high-performance trading, attracting users from Ethereum’s ecosystem. If Ethereum’s upgrades are delayed at this time, market confidence could further decline. In such cases, any large address’s historical outflow might be retrospectively interpreted.

Conclusion

With the ETH in address 0xfeb fully emptied, Vitalik’s planned sale, which lasted 23 days, has officially concluded. Transparent pre-disclosure and low-impact execution strategies ensured that this large transaction involving tens of millions of dollars did not cause significant market disruption. This reflects the increasing maturity of the crypto market and provides a reference model for similar future events. Market focus will ultimately shift from individual actions back to Ethereum’s fundamentals—technological progress, ecosystem activity, and macro liquidity. Whether the privacy and open-source projects funded by Vitalik can succeed will ultimately determine if this capital outflow can be transformed into ecosystem value.