I noticed an interesting situation in the Ether market — it seems February was indeed a tough month for major holders.

Vitalik Buterin made a serious move: sold about 17,000 ETH, which amounted to around $43 million. What’s interesting is that this happened exactly after he announced in January that he would allocate the same amount to fund privacy and security projects. It turns out his wallet balance decreased from 241,000 ETH at the beginning of February to 224,000 ETH — a difference exactly equal to the amount he promised to spend.

The sales were broken down into many small trades via CoW Protocol — a standard approach to minimize slippage at these volumes. But here’s the problem: the timing was chosen as poorly as possible. Over the month, Ether fell by 37%, dropping to roughly $1,900. And while Vitalik continued to withdraw funds in small portions, it only increased pressure on the token.

What’s especially painful is that staking yields have dropped to 2.8%. When more than 30% of all ETH is locked in staking, and the return is so meager, it’s not very attractive compared to risk-free alternatives. Many investors are clearly rethinking their positions.

The issue is also that large corporate holders like Bitmine Immersion Technologies are now sitting on massive unrealized losses. When Ether drops 37% in a month, it hurts everyone holding large positions.

Vitalik himself explained that the allocated capital would be used gradually over several years, and the Ethereum Foundation has entered a period of moderate austerity. That’s logical, of course, but the market only sees increased supply in a moment of weakness.

Positive note: the price has already started recovering from those February lows. Ether is currently trading above $2,300, showing that the market still believes in the long-term potential.