Ethereum Foundation Denies $56M Lending Rumors, Community Supports Early Investor Claims
1min read The Ethereum Foundation (EF) has recently found itself at the center of a controversy involving a significant transaction of 30,098 ETH, valued at approximately $56 million, deposited into a lending platform called Sky. Speculations arose that the EF was secretly lending money to cover its expenses, a claim that was swiftly refuted by key members of the Ethereum community.
Eric Conner, a prominent Ethereum community member, challenged the allegations, asserting that the Ethereum addresses involved were not linked to the Ethereum Foundation. Conner suggested that the wallet address in question likely belonged to an early Ethereum investor rather than a foundation member. This assertion was supported by the fact that the wallet address had received a transfer from the EF's ETH sale in 2022, a pattern consistent with early investors' behavior.
The confusion stemmed from the initial tagging of the transaction by Arkham Intelligence, which labeled the transfer as "Ethereum structure?" This led to widespread speculation about the EF's involvement with the wallet address. However, further on-chain data analysis confirmed that the address was more likely associated with an early investor rather than the foundation itself.
The Ethereum Foundation has been under scrutiny for its financial management practices, particularly its method of swapping ETH for stablecoins to pay salaries. The community has proposed that the EF could borrow stablecoins to cover wages and repay the loans with ETH, a strategy that aligns with the current actions of the Ethereum investor in question. This investor used the Sky platform to borrow DAI against Ethereum, a move that mirrors the community's earlier suggestions for the EF to use lending platforms like Aave for similar purposes.
In February, the EF distributed around $120 million across Compound, Aave, and Spark lending platforms. This move was celebrated by the Ethereum community, as it aligned with their recommendations following funding debates. The EF's continued involvement with DeFi applications demonstrates a strong commitment to ensuring the security and stability of decentralized finance in the near future.
