Vitalik Buterin Signals New Era for Ethereum Foundation
Vitalik Buterin has outlined a sweeping strategic reset for the Ethereum Foundation as the organization attempts to navigate mounting internal turmoil, community criticism and a broader identity crisis surrounding Ethereum’s future governance model.
Summary:
- Vitalik Buterin said the Ethereum Foundation is intentionally shrinking its role.
- The reset follows senior resignations and community criticism over governance.
- The EF plans to focus narrowly on core protocol security and decentralization.
In a detailed public statement, Buterin described a deliberate effort to shrink the Ethereum Foundation’s operational footprint, reduce its influence over the ecosystem and refocus strictly on core protocol research and infrastructure.
The shift follows months of escalating tensions inside the Ethereum ecosystem, including a wave of senior departures, backlash over treasury management decisions and criticism surrounding the foundation’s increasingly unconventional public image.
Ethereum Foundation Moves Into “Subtraction Mode”
According to Buterin, the Ethereum Foundation believes its original mission – centered around Ethereum’s technical launch and transition to proof-of-stake – was largely completed following the 2022 Merge.
Some of my perspective on where the @ethereumfndn is going.
First of all, this is only my own view. The board is not just me, and I have no extra special powers on the board that the other board members do not. @aerugoettinea is the one executing much of this transition. My…
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) May 24, 2026
Now, the organization is attempting to evolve into a much smaller coordinating body rather than a dominant ecosystem institution.
Buterin described the strategy as a “subtraction approach,” aimed at preventing the foundation itself from becoming a centralized point of coordination or influence inside Ethereum.
The comments come after one of the most turbulent periods in the foundation’s history.
At least eight senior contributors have reportedly left the organization in recent months, including several high-profile departures during May alone. Among those stepping away were longtime Ethereum figures including Tim Beiko, Carl Beekhuizen and co-Executive Director Tomasz Stanczak.
The departures intensified broader concerns that the foundation was losing internal cohesion during a period of rising competitive pressure from faster-growing blockchain ecosystems.
Treasury Sales and Culture Backlash Trigger Community Friction
The Ethereum Foundation also faced sharp criticism over its treasury management strategy.
Community frustration grew after the EF sold and unstaked tens of millions of dollars worth of ETH to support operating expenses and maintain long-term runway stability.
Many Ethereum supporters argued the sales contributed to negative market sentiment at a time when ETH was already underperforming Bitcoin and several competing Layer-1 networks.
In response, Buterin said the foundation will reduce direct ETH sales moving forward and increasingly rely on yield-generating staking structures such as wstETH to sustain treasury operations.
At the same time, controversy surrounding the foundation’s public image added another layer of instability.
READ MORE: Bitmine Closes In on Controlling 5% of Ethereum Supply
The EF recently released a highly unconventional 38-page “Mandate” document that drew aesthetic inspiration from the Milady NFT subculture – a move many critics viewed as disconnected from Ethereum’s traditionally serious institutional and open-source identity.
The backlash fueled broader debates over whether the foundation had drifted away from its original mission.
Ethereum Refocuses on Core Infrastructure
Under the new strategy, the Ethereum Foundation plans to narrow its priorities significantly.
Buterin said the organization will focus almost exclusively on areas unlikely to be sufficiently funded or coordinated by the broader ecosystem itself.
That includes censorship resistance, resistance to institutional capture, open-source development, privacy and security — a framework internally referred to as “CROPS.”
The EF also plans to prioritize technical infrastructure initiatives including AI-assisted formal verification, lean consensus design and proposals aimed at reducing intermediary control over transaction inclusion, such as FOCIL.
The broader objective appears to be building a leaner and more politically decentralized Ethereum governance structure over time.
A Power Vacuum Begins Emerging Around Ethereum
The foundation’s retreat is already creating visible power shifts inside the Ethereum ecosystem.
Unlike many rival blockchain foundations that control massive portions of their native token supply, the Ethereum Foundation reportedly holds only around 0.16% of total ETH circulation.
That relatively small treasury position limits the organization’s ability – and increasingly its willingness – to directly influence ETH market performance, ecosystem marketing or institutional capital flows.
As the EF steps back, outside groups are beginning to fill the vacuum.
In recent days, prominent Ethereum advocates including Ryan Sean Adams publicly floated proposals for a separate billion-dollar organization focused entirely on strengthening ETH’s market positioning, tokenomics and institutional adoption strategy.
The proposal reflects growing frustration among some investors who believe Ethereum lacks a coordinated entity actively promoting ETH as a financial asset while competitors aggressively market their ecosystems to institutions.
Buterin acknowledged that the transition period will likely remain unstable in the near term.
Interim co-Executive Director Bastian Aue and Ethereum Foundation President Aya Miyaguchi are now overseeing a restructuring effort aimed at expanding governance participation and diluting concentrated authority across the organization.
According to Buterin, the Ethereum Foundation expects the transition toward a more decentralized internal structure to stabilize over the coming months.
The broader experiment may ultimately become one of Ethereum’s most important long-term tests: whether a blockchain ecosystem can maintain leadership while intentionally reducing the influence of its own founding institution.
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Alexander Zdravkov
Reporter at CoinsPress
Alexander Zdravkov is a market analyst and crypto journalist with interests in economics, broader financial markets and digital assets. His journey into crypto began more than four years ago, driven by a fascination with the rapid evolution of blockchain technology and the transformative potential of decentralized finance. He began analyzing market cycles and identifying emerging trends before they reach the mainstream. He holds a degree in International Relations - a background that helped shape his broader perspective on global economics, geopolitics, and the interconnected nature of modern financial markets. Whether covering the latest developments in the crypto sector or exploring broader macroeconomic themes, Alexander focuses on giving readers context rather than simply repeating headlines. During his career, he has authored more than 10,000 articles covering cryptocurrencies, traditional finance, and global market developments. His work spans everything from Bitcoin and altcoins to macroeconomic trends influencing risk assets worldwide.
