Crypto media outlet BlockTempo cited on June 24 a warning from a former Ethereum insider that the Ethereum core development ecosystem may face a “slow-burning liquidity crisis” within the next 3 to 9 months; the backdrop is the Ethereum Foundation completing a 20% layoff and cutting its annual budget by about 40%. Kleros co-founder Clément Lesaege proposed a plan capped at 10% for “validator transfer income”.
Lesaege’s staking tax proposal: 50,000 to 70,000 ETH per year
Lesaege’s “validator transfer income” plan suggests a layer-level mechanism that directs up to 10% of validator staking rewards to ecosystem funds. He estimates that, based on the current staking size, an annual transfer ratio of 5% to 10% could generate approximately 50,000 to 70,000 ETH (about $82.5 million to $116 million). Lesaege said Ethereum is running into a “coordination failure”: everyone benefits from shared infrastructure, yet no one is willing to pay. Shannon’s alternative algorithm shows an annual funding gap of about $30 million; compared with $1.9 billion in annualized staking rewards, only 1.6% of staking rewards would be needed to fill the gap—economically reasonable, but from a governance perspective seen as a cross-domain move that turns validators into “tax authorities”.
Ethereum staking APR falls from 4.6% to 2.7%
Bitwise senior researcher Max Shannon pointed out that Ethereum staking APR has declined from about 4.6% in June 2023 to the current 2.7%, even as the staking supply and staking ratio have roughly doubled over the same period. Further compression of rewards would make the liquidity risk of “cutting risk and liquidity risk from exit queues” relatively more significant in relation to returns, and could also make validators more dependent on MEV to make up losses, thereby affecting censorship resistance.
A Figment spokesperson said compressing staking profits “tends to concentrate validators into large integrated operators,” at the cost of “operator diversity.” Twinstake co-founder Andrew Gibb noted that the most sensitive pools of capital may “reduce or exit” their staking allocation.
EthLabs’ founding background: five former Ethereum Foundation researchers
EthLabs was unveiled on Monday, June 23, 2026 by five former Ethereum Foundation researchers. It is a newly established nonprofit R&D organization backed with funding endorsements from major ecosystem supporters, including Joe Lubin, founder of BitMine, Sharplink, and ConsenSys. EthLabs is taking a “voluntary sponsorship” route—direct funding from large ETH-aligned organizations for development, rather than enforcing a “forced tax” through a layer-level mechanism.
Joe Lubin said on X that the Ethereum Foundation is still focused on “cryptopunk core components,” while other research teams explore more dimensions. The emergence of EthLabs shifts the debate away from “how to tax Ethereum” to “whether we really need to tax.”
Frequently asked questions
How much impact do the Ethereum Foundation’s budget cuts and layoffs have on core development?
According to reports, a former Ethereum insider warned of a potential funding crisis within 3 to 9 months, with the background being that the EF carried out a 20% layoff and cut its budget by about 40%, resulting in an annual funding gap of about $30 million. Vitalik Buterin explained that the Foundation’s annual spending will gradually drop from about 15% before 2026 to about 5% after 2030, showing this is a long-term, intentional reduction rather than a sudden financial difficulty.
Has Lesaege’s 10% staking tax proposal entered the Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) process yet?
According to reports, Lesaege proposed this plan on the Eth Research forum, but the article did not state whether it has entered the official EIP process. The founding of EthLabs and the community’s broad opposition to a staking tax make the proposal’s outlook even more uncertain.
Have EthLabs’ funding sources and scale been made public?
According to reports, EthLabs is backed by institutions such as BitMine, Sharplink, and Joe Lubin, using a voluntary sponsorship model. However, the article does not specify the exact initial funding amount or target budget size, and related financial details have not been fully disclosed.
