The Ethereum Foundation (EF) will cut its budget by about 40% this year as part of a shift toward a more efficient, endowment-style operating model, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said in a blog post published Tuesday.
The reduction comes on the same day that the EF confirmed a 20% reduction in staff and follows the resignation of co-CEO Hsiao-Wei Wang. His departure brings to nine the total number of senior Ethereum Foundation figures who have left since January, underscoring the magnitude of the organization’s current turmoil.
Buterin said the spending cuts are intended to move the foundation from spending about 15% of its remaining treasury annually before 2026 to a long-term goal of about 5% annually after 2030.
“I respect my colleagues at EF too much to pretend that not much has been lost,” Buterin wrote, acknowledging that the cuts involve “difficult decisions” and the departure of experienced engineers who have worked on Ethereum for years.
