Buterin trims Ethereum Foundation, will sell less ETH

Vitalik Buterin wrote that the Ethereum Foundation will shrink, focus on core technical work and reduce ETH sales after at least nine senior staff departures in 2026. He said the change aims to rely more on other organizations to carry out growth and business-development work for the network.

The Foundation formalized a mandate on March 13 that lists censorship resistance, open source development, privacy and security as its core priorities. Buterin noted the board is expanding even as his own influence within the organization declines and described the Foundation as “one node, with a defined purpose, alongside other nodes.” He said the Foundation will concentrate on activities it can credibly deliver and cut back on efforts to promote ETH as an asset.

Financial figures underlie the shift. The Foundation holds about 0.16% of all ETH and completed a staking target near 70,000 ETH, with roughly 69,500 ETH staked. That staking position produces an estimated $3.9 million to $5.4 million a year in income, while the organization’s historical operating costs have been near $100 million annually. Because staking yields do not cover past spending levels, the Foundation’s choices include lower spending, continued ETH sales, outside funding or a mix of those options. Buterin linked plans to sell less ETH to making the Foundation smaller both by necessity and by design.

Aya Miyaguchi will lead much of the operational transition while Buterin shifts to technical work. He framed the recent departures as “decentralization in practice,” and urged external organizations and private capital to take on business development, asset branding and coordinated outreach roles the Foundation will step back from.

Buterin referenced the March mandate again when describing success metrics for the Foundation, saying one measure is reduced dependence on the Foundation over time. He wrote that concentrating on protocol durability and technical depth-formal verification, work to minimize intermediaries and research on lean consensus-are activities the Foundation should prioritize.

The post also outlined possible outcomes without assigning probabilities. If outside groups and institutional funders absorb growth and coordination functions, the Foundation can limit treasury selling while those groups drive adoption. If external groups form slowly or unevenly, the Foundation may shrink before replacements for its coordination and business-development roles are in place. Buterin warned that rapid loss of institutional knowledge and staff could affect upgrade timelines and coordination during technical or governance stress events.

Buterin closed by describing the Foundation as “a smaller ship than in previous years, more opinionated, but longer-lasting.” The post leaves open whether external institutions will emerge quickly enough to take on the growth and market-facing roles some ETH holders had asked the Foundation to perform.