The Ethereum Foundation is cutting its budget by 40% and undergoing a fundamental restructuring.
The Ethereum Foundation (EF) has announced a radical reorganization of its internal structure and a transition to a new financial management model. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin confirmed that the organization's budget will be reduced by approximately 40% as part of the shift towards a long-term capital management strategy.
The new EF structure will be built around three key areas: core protocol development (Protocol), accelerating technology adoption and ecosystem growth (Acceleration), and ensuring the long-term sustainability of the network and community (Stewardship). The goal is to increase transparency and efficiency in implementing strategic tasks ahead of the large-scale Strawmap upgrade program, which will affect virtually all components of the network.
Buterin revealed details of the new financial strategy: while until 2026 the EF spent about 15% of its remaining reserves annually, after 2030 this figure will drop to 5%. The Foundation is effectively transforming into an organization operating on long-term capital. The budget cut has already led to personnel changes and the winding down of several initiatives.
Shift in priorities: AI and formal verification
One of the most significant changes is a reassessment of the approach to Ethereum client security. The ecosystem will gradually move away from a model based on the redundancy of multiple clients, in favor of actively using formal verification and AI-based tools for bug detection. This is expected to reduce the costs of supporting a large number of protocol implementations and accelerate the deployment of updates.
Closure of research division and scaling down Devcon
The Privacy and Scaling Explorations (PSE) division, which conducted research in privacy and scaling, has been cut. However, work on zero-knowledge proof technologies will not cease — the focus shifts from experiments to implementing ready-made solutions directly into the protocol and user infrastructure.
The ecosystem's largest conference, Devcon, will also become less extensive and costly. The EF plans to reduce the number of major initiatives that go beyond the development of Ethereum itself. Buterin intends to fund some of these projects from his personal funds.
Course towards stability after Strawmap
In the long term, the Ethereum co-founder advocates for a more conservative approach to network development. After the Strawmap program is completed, he proposes focusing on fixing vulnerabilities and small improvements with high practical value, significantly raising the threshold for introducing new features. "We should look less to multi-million-line codebases and more to Bitcoin," Buterin noted.
My comment: This decision is a logical step for a maturing blockchain transitioning from a phase of aggressive growth to one of sustainability and optimization. Cutting the budget by 40% and moving away from client redundancy in favor of AI verification is not just about saving money, but a strategic pivot. However, this transition carries risks: centralization around a single security approach could make the network more vulnerable to specific attacks. The community's attention will now be focused on how the EF balances efficiency and decentralization.