The Ethereum Foundation (EF) has made a significant move by converting 1,000 Ether (ETH) into stablecoins to fund research, grants, and decentralized finance (DeFi) projects as part of its treasury strategy.

The transaction, valued at around $4.5 million, was completed through CoW Swap, a decentralized trading platform that provides liquidity from various exchanges to ensure competitive pricing without the need for a centralized broker.

While the foundation did not disclose the specific stablecoins received for the ETH, this conversion follows a previous announcement in September where they discussed converting a larger amount, 10,000 ETH, into stablecoins. However, this latest sale appears separate due to its smaller size and the choice of CoW Swap over a centralized exchange.

According to EF’s Treasury Policy, they aim to strike a balance between generating returns and their role as stewards of the Ethereum ecosystem, particularly focusing on DeFi initiatives.

This decision to increase stablecoin usage also coincides with EF’s temporary halt on open grant submissions due to a high volume of applications, highlighting their need to prioritize funding for the most urgent projects.

In April, the foundation underwent a restructuring to enhance strategic operations, appointing Hsiao-Wei Wang and Tomasz K. Stańczak as co-executive directors, both of whom have been part of the organization previously. Previous layoffs and core team restructuring were also part of this shift.

Vitalik Buterin’s Commitment to DeFi

Since its inception, Ethereum has positioned itself as the top platform for DeFi applications, currently holding approximately 68% market share in total value locked (TVL) across DeFi sites, despite increasing competition from other blockchains.

Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, recently emphasized the importance of low-risk DeFi applications for the network, suggesting they could provide stable revenue akin to Google Search’s role in Google’s revenue stream.

“Low-risk DeFi can play a similar role for Ethereum,” Buterin stated, underscoring the fundamental aspects of payments, savings, well-understood instruments like synthetic assets, and fully secured lending.