Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin announced on June 23 that the Ethereum Foundation will cut its budget by roughly 40% and eliminate 54 roles as part of a restructuring toward a long-term endowment model. The organization aims to reduce annual spending from about 15% of its treasury to around 5% after 2030, a shift designed to sustain operations through extended market downturns without relying on short-term token sales. The workforce reduction represents approximately 20% of staff and follows a months-long internal review, occurring alongside the resignation of co-Executive Director Hsiao-Wei Wang and eight other senior departures since January.
Ethereum Foundation Eliminates 54 Roles in Organizational Restructuring
The 54 departures follow a months-long internal review and bring the total number of senior departures since January to nine, including the resignation of co-Executive Director Hsiao-Wei Wang. Buterin acknowledged the cost of the cuts in his announcement, praising departing staff as dedicated engineers and researchers, some of whom had worked on Ethereum for nearly a decade. "There was much that is lost," he stated, declining to frame the exits as efficiency gains.
Remaining work will be organized into five divisions covering Ethereum's protocol, access, users, community and institutional adoption. The Foundation's Privacy and Scaling Explorations unit will be wound down as a standalone group, and its Devcon conference will become smaller and less expensive. The organization also plans to reduce large external project funding and narrow the scope of its institutional work as it concentrates resources on the core protocol.
Foundation Redirects Technical Priorities Toward Specialization and Zero-Knowledge Research
The restructuring redirects technical priorities toward specialization over maintaining several client teams mainly for redundancy. The Foundation will lean on AI-assisted formal verification to reduce development resources and continue zero-knowledge research focused on protocol implementation. The organization's target of lowering annual spending from about 15% of treasury assets to around 5% after 2030 is intended to enable support for Ethereum through extended market downturns without relying on short-term token sales or favorable conditions.
Buterin Outlines "Soft Lean and Done" Development Philosophy
Underpinning the changes is a philosophy Buterin described as "soft lean and done," emphasizing security fixes over new features and drawing on Bitcoin's conservative approach rather than treating Ethereum as an ever-expanding software project. This approach guides the Foundation's shift away from continuous feature expansion toward a more conservative development model focused on protocol stability and security maintenance.
FAQ
What budget cuts did the Ethereum Foundation announce on June 23?
Vitalik Buterin announced the Ethereum Foundation will reduce its budget by roughly 40% and eliminate 54 roles, representing about 20% of the workforce. The organization aims to lower annual spending from approximately 15% of its treasury to around 5% after 2030 as part of a transition to a long-term endowment model.
Why is the Ethereum Foundation restructuring its operations?
The Foundation is shifting toward an endowment-style model designed to sustain operations through extended market downturns without relying on short-term token sales or favorable market conditions. The restructuring follows a months-long internal review and accompanies nine senior departures since January, including co-Executive Director Hsiao-Wei Wang.
How will the Ethereum Foundation's technical priorities change?
The Foundation will favor specialization over maintaining multiple client teams for redundancy, utilize AI-assisted formal verification to reduce development resources, and continue zero-knowledge research focused on protocol implementation. The Privacy and Scaling Explorations unit will be wound down, and the Devcon conference will be downsized.
