Vitalik: Ethereum Foundation will shrink and sell less ETH as key researchers depart!

Vitalik Buterin has signaled a significant strategic shift at the Ethereum Foundation, describing its future form as a 'smaller ship' — one that will reduce its ETH sales on the open market as the organization trims its size and scope. The announcement comes against the backdrop of a notable researcher exodus, with several prominent contributors having departed the Foundation in recent months.

The pledge to sell less ETH is a direct response to community criticism that Foundation sell-offs have historically created overhead pressure on ETH's price. A leaner Foundation with reduced selling activity could ease that structural overhang, though the departure of senior researchers raises its own questions about Ethereum's long-term protocol development capacity.