Lisk Foundation to sell 1,000 bitcoin for ethereum over 2.5 months

The Lisk Foundation, led by co-founder and CEO Max Kordek, will convert 1,000 bitcoin (BTC) to ethereum (ETH) over the next 10 weeks. 

Lisk to convert 1,000 BTC

In a tweet on May 11, the CEO said the decision is to  minimize risks associated with third parties. As such, the Lisk Foundation will be selling 100 BTC every week for the next two and a half months.

ETH purchased will be deposited into a 2-of-3 multisig account, with each board member of the Lisk Foundation holding one key.

The move aims to bolster the foundation’s long-term treasury. 

Kordek clarified that the intention is to stake the acquired ETH, although this process will not occur immediately.

The project also intends to retain 500 BTC to cover expenses in 2024 and 2025. 

Furthermore, Kordek, in a response to a user on Twitter, stated that the Lisk Foundation has sufficient fiat currency to sustain operations until the next bitcoin halving event.

In 2024, the Bitcoin network will halve miner rewards. It is a move that would drastically slash miner earnings as circulating supply will also gradually drop.

Kordek outlined three main reasons behind the decision to sell BTC for ETH.

First, Ethereum’s position as the largest smart contracting platform in the world aligns with their treasury goals of supporting decentralized applications (dapps).

Second, ETH is deemed to have acceptable risks from a treasury perspective. 

Lastly, Ethereum’s staking mechanism may provide a sustainable, long-term return on investment (ROI). 

Kordek emphasized the benefits of investing in an appreciating, deflationary asset that generates yields.

Lisk’s impact on BTC prices

Lisk gained significant recognition during the Initial Coin Offering (ICO) frenzy of 2016 and 2017 when it raised 14,000 BTC. 

Their native currency, LSK,has a market cap of $106m and ranked at 195th, according to CoinMarketCap. 

Despite bitcoin’s price recovery in April, which saw the coin rally to $31,000, the coin remains under pressure when writing, dropping 10% in the last trading week. 

It is likely that the impact of Lisk’s transactions on bitcoin’s price will be minimal. Their 1,000 BTC will be sold gradually over 10 weeks.

It’s believed that the current bitcoin and cryptocurrency market is suffering from limited liquidity due to Operation Choke Point 2.0 in the United States, targeting cryptocurrency companies, including exchanges. 

Ordinarily, insufficient liquidity can lead to market inefficiencies, causing price fluctuations that may discourage experienced traders from engaging the market.