What’s Happening with Ethereum? Vitalik Buterin Cuts Budget by 40%

The Ethereum Foundation has initiated a comprehensive restructuring process, slashing its budget by 40% in a move toward a more sustainable structure.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin announced a significant budget cut this year to transform the foundation’s operational model into a more efficient, long-term endowment model. This move follows the decision to reduce the foundation’s workforce by 20% and a series of high-level departures. The exit of nine senior figures since January highlights the scale of the organizational change.

Buterin stated that the spending cuts were made to manage the foundation’s treasury more strategically. Currently, approximately 15% of the treasury is spent annually, but the goal is to reduce this to 5% after 2030. This strategic shift aims to secure Ethereum’s (ETH) future roadmap and sustain the network’s development through a more economical model.

Strategic Transformation and an Era of Savings at the Ethereum Foundation

As part of the restructuring, the activities of certain departments, such as the Privacy and Scaling Explorations (PSE) unit, will be terminated, and Devcon conferences will be organized with lower costs. Buterin envisions Ethereum evolving into a “lean and complete” structure that focuses on security-oriented, high-impact updates rather than continuously adding new features. During this process, AI-powered verification systems and more specialized technical teams are expected to take center stage.

While Vitalik Buterin acknowledged that these difficult decisions have led to the departure of experienced engineers, he stated that this change is essential for the network to maintain its competitive edge. In this new era, referred to as Ethereum’s “third iteration,” the foundation’s role in the ecosystem is being redefined while adopting a more efficient working discipline. With budget discipline in place, the foundation will continue to focus on Ethereum’s core protocol development.