he Ethereum Foundation created a multisig wallet to transfer 50,000 ETH to increase DeFi participation.
The organization plans to back the wallet with around $150 million worth of ETH, but noted that the setup could take several days. Hsiao-Wei Wang, who was recently appointed to a leadership role at the foundation, said in a statement:
“The Ethereum Foundation (EF) has set up a new Safe 3-of-5 multisig wallet… An operation has been initiated to send 50,000 ETH to it, but be patient; due to signature delays, this will take a few days to process.”
There have been long-standing concerns about EF’s transparency, particularly its treasury management. In recent weeks, a number of high-profile crypto commentators have expressed concerns about the Ethereum Foundation and its leadership, in part due to ETH’s poor market performance and increasing competition from rival chain Solana.
Some of the suggestions included replacing executive director Aya Miyaguchi with the more technically savvy former Ethereum Foundation researcher Danny Ryan, who is leading the blockchain’s proof-of-stake upgrade.
There have also been calls for the foundation to either deposit or distribute some of its roughly $1 billion in ETH holdings onto the chain. The foundation has long been criticized for putting “selling pressure” on ETH by swapping its holdings for stablecoins to pay salaries. On Saturday, in response to the latest criticism, Ethereum co-founders Vitalik Buterin and Joe Lubin hinted at “major changes” to the Ethereum Foundation’s leadership structure.
