Coinbase Defends Ethereum Sales Amid Criticism

Jesse Pollak, vice president of engineering at Coinbase, pushed back against criticism over the company's Ethereum (ETH) sales on social media platform X. He argued that Coinbase is not responsible for the decline in ETH prices, citing the company's large holdings of the asset.

Pollak pointed out that Coinbase has held 150,000 ETH for years, going through different market cycles and changes in the narrative about Ethereum layer-2 networks. This is consistent with public numbers from the Strategic ETH Reserve tracker, which shows Coinbase occupying sixth place among companies with significant ETH holdings, behind treasury-focused companies.

Pollak also highlighted Coinbase's contributions to the Ethereum ecosystem, including its work on EIP-4844 and participation in the creation of USDC. He argued that looking only at the company's treasury ignores its broader role in bringing millions of users into Ethereum through its platform and Base network.