Vitalik Buterin Says Ethereum Foundation Will Cut Budget by 40% in Major Restructuring

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said the Ethereum Foundation will reduce its budget by roughly 40% this year as part of a major restructuring plan aimed at creating a leaner long-term operating model.

The announcement came alongside confirmation that the Foundation is also cutting around 20% of its workforce. The changes follow the resignation of co-Executive Director Hsiao-Wei Wang, bringing the total number of senior Ethereum Foundation leaders to leave since January to nine.

Buterin explained that the Foundation plans to gradually reduce annual spending from nearly 15% of treasury assets before 2026 to around 5% annually after 2030.

Leadership Changes Increase Pressure on Ethereum Foundation

The latest departures have raised concerns inside the Ethereum community about leadership stability and the Foundation’s future direction as competition from rival blockchain networks continues to grow.

In a blog post, Buterin acknowledged that the restructuring includes difficult decisions and the loss of experienced engineers who played major roles in Ethereum’s development over the years.

The Foundation said it wants to preserve funding for Ethereum’s long-term technical roadmap while lowering operational costs in other areas.

Smaller Devcon Events and Narrower Strategy Planned

As part of the reset, the Ethereum Foundation plans to scale back several initiatives, including winding down its Privacy and Scaling Explorations unit. Future Devcon conferences are also expected to become smaller and less expensive.

Buterin said Ethereum’s future development could eventually move toward a “lean-and-done” model focused mainly on security updates and limited high-impact upgrades instead of constant feature expansion.

The restructuring highlights broader challenges facing Ethereum as the network works to strengthen adoption while managing internal leadership turnover and financial sustainability.