Just-In: Ethereum Foundation Begins Staking 70,000 ETH, Futures Open Interest Bounces

The Ethereum Foundation on Tuesday said it has officially started in-house staking and plans to stake 70,000 ETH in the coming weeks as part of its treasury policy. This sparks massive buying in the derivatives markets as open interest bounces.

Ethereum Foundation Stakes 2016 ETH

The Ethereum Foundation has begun staking a portion of its treasury, according to an official blog post on February 24. The foundation staked 2016 ETH worth $3.8 million as part of the plan to stake 70,000 ETH, generating rewards directed back to the EF treasury.

The foundation has selected Dirk and Attestant’s Vouch for staking ETH. Dirk acts as a distributed signer, enabling operation by individuals in multiple countries and ensuring no failure can interrupt validation. On the other hand, Vouch supports multiple Beacon Client and Execution Client pairings to mitigate client diversity risks.

The Ethereum Foundation reveals that the setup employs minority clients and a mix of hosted infrastructure and self-managed hardware in several jurisdictions. Notably, the treasury policy focuses on financial stability and operational efficiency, capping annual spending at 15% of total treasury assets and reducing it 5%.

“We are excited to take this important step, which helps secure the Ethereum network and at the same time fund the EF’s core operations & activities, including protocol R&D, ecosystem development, community grant funding and more,” the foundation said.

tl;dr: @ethereumfndn has started in-house staking and plans to stake ~70k ETH in the coming weeks. https://t.co/8RmZB3db67

— hww.eth | Hsiao-Wei Wang (@hwwonx) February 24, 2026

In this latest Voice of web3 podcast, Ethereum Foundation’s ecosystem head James Smith outlined how Ethereum is positioning itself as long-term, neutral global infrastructure rather than a short-term crypto adoption play.

Ethereum Futures Open Interest Rebound

ETH price fell 5% in the past 24 hours amid the broader crypto market crash, currently trading at $1,820. The 24-hour low and high are $1,813 and $1,935, respectively. Trading volume has increased by almost 14% over the last 24 hours, indicating a rise in interest among traders.

Prices have dropped amid ETH selloffs by Vitalik Buterin and whales. Over the past 3 days, he has sold 3,788.57 worth $7.3 million. Notably, he has sold 10,723 ETH for $21.74 million this month.

However, Ethereum futures open interest jumped 0.40 in 4 hours and 0.22% in an hour to $23.43 billion after the Ethereum Foundation announced initial staking deposits. Coinglass data shows buying on exchanges such as Binance, OKX, KuCoin, and Coinbase. This signals positive sentiment among derivatives traders.