Ethereum Foundation sells 1,000 ETH to fund research and development activities.

The Ethereum Foundation (EF) has just announced a plan to convert 1,000 ETH into stablecoin to fund research, grants, and donations, aligning with a broader treasury management strategy and the foundation's involvement in funding decentralized finance (DeFi) initiatives.

This transaction is worth approximately 4.5 million USD at the current price, executed through CoW Swap, a DeFi protocol capable of aggregating liquidity from multiple exchanges, providing users with competitive prices without relying on a centralized intermediary.

The fund's announcement as well as the treasury policy do not specify which type of stablecoin will be accepted in exchange for the amount of ETH.

Source: Ethereum FoundationThis conversion comes after EF announced in September that they plan to convert 10,000 ETH into stablecoin in the coming weeks. However, the transaction that took place last Friday seems unrelated to that initiative, due to its smaller scale and the use of CoW Swap instead of a centralized exchange.

According to the treasury policy, the Ethereum Foundation aims to "balance the pursuit of above-benchmark returns and expand its role as a steward of the Ethereum ecosystem, with particular emphasis on the DeFi sector."

The increasing use of stablecoins is also occurring in the context of EF temporarily suspending the acceptance of applications for support for the ecosystem support program, citing the increase in the number of applications. The fund stated that it will prioritize funding for the most urgent needs of the network.

In April, EF announced a leadership restructuring aimed at improving strategic and operational management. The fund appointed Hsiao-Wei Wang and Tomasz K. Stańczak as co-CEOs, both of whom previously held positions at EF. In June, the fund executed staff reductions and restructured the core development team.

Vitalik Buterin emphasizes the importance of DeFi

Since its launch, Ethereum has maintained its position as the leading platform for DeFi applications. Despite facing increasing competition from other blockchain networks, Ethereum still accounts for about 68% of the total value locked (TVL) across DeFi platforms, according to industry data.

Although Ethereum's dominance in DeFi has decreased since 2021, it remains the leading platform in this field | Source: DefiLlamaVitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, recently emphasized the network's focus on DeFi, arguing that "low-risk" DeFi applications could help generate more sustainable revenue for the ecosystem, similar to how Google Search supports Google's business model.

"Low-risk DeFi could play a similar role for Ethereum," Buterin wrote, emphasizing "the basic functions of payments and savings, along with well-understood tools such as synthetic assets and fully collateralized lending."

Mr. Giáo