Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has sold nearly $7 million worth of Ethereum from his personal wallet over the past three days, with ongoing transactions converting Ethereum to stablecoins. This move follows Buterin's announcement of a 'mild austerity' period for the Ethereum Foundation, aimed at achieving long-term goals such as enhancing Ethereum's scalability and stability. Buterin revealed that he withdrew 16,384 ETH to support these objectives, selling over 3,000 ETH since his announcement. Ethereum's price has dropped 30% in the past week, trading at just over $2,000, significantly down from its all-time high. Buterin also expressed intentions to explore decentralized staking options and questioned Ethereum's reliance on layer 2 networks, emphasizing direct scaling on layer 1 with planned gas limit increases.