Ethereum Foundation Borrows Aave’s Stablecoin GHO for DeFi Strategy

The Ethereum Foundation’s multisig wallet, created for DeFi participation, borrowed 2 million GHO stablecoins. Aave founder and CEO Stani Kulechov shared the update on his X account.

In January 2025, EF announced setting up a multisig wallet and creating a 50,000 ETH  fund to participate in the DeFi ecosystem. 

Ethereum Foundation Adds Aave’s GHO Stablecoin to Its Holdings

The Ethereum Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports the development of the Ethereum blockchain, is expanding its DeFi portfolio. According to Etherscan data, its wallet holds tokens valued at nearly $59 million, including PALM AI, Staked DOLA (sDOLA), LinqAI (LNQ), and other cryptocurrencies.

With the latest purchase, GHO is now the third-largest holding in the wallet, following ETH and Aave Ethereum (aEthWETH).  GHO is a decentralized, overcollateralized stablecoin launched by Aave. It’s backed by assets supplied to the Aave Protocol and is designed to maintain a 1:1 peg with the U.S. dollar while offering users a transparent and native DeFi alternative to centralized stablecoins.

Aave founder and CEO Stani Kulechov noted the Ethereum Foundation’s deep involvement in the Aave ecosystem, as it both supplies ETH to Aave and borrows from it. 

Kulechov referred to this as a “full DeFi cycle,” where Ethereum not only powers the DeFi ecosystem but also uses Ethereum-based DeFi tools to manage its own finances transparently.

Structural and Strategic Changes at the Ethereum Foundation

In March 2025, EF appointed Hsiao-Wei Wang and Tomasz Stańczak as co-executive directors during a series of structural changes. Later, it outlined updated strategic goals, focusing on protocol integrity, community funding, and minimizing central influence. 

Historically, the EF has been a passive holder of ETH, selling portions as needed to fund operations. There were speculations about EF’s sales and their impact on the price. Now, participating in DeFi through a transparent wallet address, Ethereum adapts and updates its treasury management, at the same time earning from DeFi. 

The Ethereum blockchain continues to be the top blockchain by total value locked across different DeFi applications, according to DefiLlama. At the time of writing, its native coin, ETH, trades at around $2730, 2.7% up in the last 24 hours. Ether is the second-largest crypto with a market cap of over $332 billion, coming after Bitcoin.