CoinDesk
The Ethereum Foundation will cut its annual budget by roughly 40% this year as it transitions to a leaner, endowment-style operating model, co-founder Vitalik Buterin said in a blog post published Tuesday. The cuts land on the same day the EF confirmed a 20% headcount reduction and the resignation of co-Executive Director Hsiao-Wei Wang, bringing the total number of senior departures since January to nine.
Buterin framed the shift as a long-arc transition: the foundation has been spending around 15% of its remaining treasury annually before 2026, and is targeting roughly 5% per year after 2030. "I respect my EF colleagues far too much to pretend that there was not much that is lost," he wrote, acknowledging the cuts involve "difficult decisions" and the departure of engineers who have worked on Ethereum for years.
Why it matters
The reshuffle touches nearly every corner of the foundation's footprint. The Privacy and Scaling Explorations (PSE) unit is being wound down, Devcon is being scaled back to a smaller and cheaper format, the institutional strategy is being narrowed, and client teams are shifting toward AI-assisted formal verification. Buterin reiterated his preference for a "lean-and-done" future for Ethereum once the current roadmap ships, with protocol work focused on security fixes and limited high-impact upgrades rather than continual feature expansion.
Market impact
The numbers tell a story of a foundation pulling back from expansion mode. A 40% budget cut on top of a 20% staff reduction, nine senior exits in five months, and a deprecation of the PSE unit mean the EF is shrinking its surface area at the same time rival L1s are scaling theirs. The endowment framing, spending 5% of treasury annually after 2030, signals Buterin wants the EF to behave more like a long-duration steward than a venture-style spender. For ETH, the read is operational discipline, not protocol change: the roadmap Buterin described as the protocol's "third iteration" after the Merge is still the priority, and the cuts are meant to protect funding for it.
Frequently asked questions
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How much is the Ethereum Foundation cutting from its budget?
Roughly 40% this year, per a Tuesday blog post from co-founder Vitalik Buterin, as the EF shifts to an endowment-style operating model targeting about 5% of treasury spend annually by 2030, down from around 15% before 2026.
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How many senior Ethereum Foundation figures have left since January?
Nine, including co-Executive Director Hsiao-Wei Wang, whose resignation was announced the same day as the 40% budget cut and a 20% headcount reduction.
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What is the Ethereum Foundation winding down as part of the cuts?
The Privacy and Scaling Explorations (PSE) unit is being shut down, Devcon conferences are being scaled back to a smaller, cheaper format, and the foundation's institutional strategy is being narrowed, with client teams shifting toward AI-assisted formal verification.
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What did Vitalik Buterin say about the layoffs and departures?
He wrote that he respects his EF colleagues "far too much to pretend that there was not much that is lost," calling the cuts "difficult decisions" that cost the foundation engineers who had worked on Ethereum for years.
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What does "lean-and-done" mean for Ethereum's protocol roadmap?
Buterin said he wants the foundation to stop expanding the protocol feature set once the current roadmap ships, focusing future work on security fixes and limited high-impact upgrades rather than continual expansion. He called the current roadmap the protocol's "third iteration" after the Merge.
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