The move coincides with the Foundation’s confirmation of a 20% staff reduction and follows the resignation of co-executive director Hsiao-Wei Wang. Her departure brings the total number of senior leaders to exit the Ethereum Foundation since January to nine, underscoring the depth of the organization’s ongoing challenges.
The Ethereum Foundation (EF) is set to cut its budget by around 40% this year as it pivots toward a leaner, endowment-style operating model, according to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin in a blog post released Tuesday.
Buterin explained that the cuts are intended to reduce annual spending from roughly 15% of the Foundation’s treasury before 2026 to a long-term target closer to 5% per year after 2030.
“I respect my EF colleagues far too much to pretend that there was not much that is lost,” Buterin wrote, acknowledging the difficult trade-offs, including the departure of long-tenured engineers who have played key roles in Ethereum’s development.
The Foundation plans to maintain support for Ethereum’s ambitious roadmap—what Buterin described as the protocol’s “third iteration” following the Merge—while scaling back costs elsewhere. Proposed changes include winding down the Privacy and Scaling Explorations (PSE) unit, hosting smaller and more cost-efficient Devcon conferences, narrowing its institutional focus, and shifting toward specialized client teams supported by AI-assisted formal verification.
Buterin also reiterated his vision for a “lean-and-done” Ethereum once its current roadmap is completed, with future development focused primarily on security improvements and a limited number of high-impact upgrades rather than continuous expansion.
The announcement comes as Ethereum faces increasing competitive pressure from rival blockchain networks, alongside internal leadership turnover and a broader push to redefine the Foundation’s role within the ecosystem.
