Vitalik Buterin is now openly pushing for a strategic reset at the Ethereum Foundation. The message is that Ethereum’s main nonprofit should be a “smaller ship” — less of a broad ecosystem manager, more of a tight node focused on censorship resistance, openness, privacy, and security. Buterin says the Foundation will cut back on ETH sales to meet operational needs, directly addressing long-running criticism around treasury sales. He also says the Foundation should be seen as “one node, with a defined purpose,” rather than the center of Ethereum.
There’s a concrete operational shift behind that language. Buterin says his own influence is set to decline as the board expands, part of a broader effort to dilute internal power and define a tighter institutional mandate. CoinDesk has also reported that the Foundation operates under a policy capping annual expenses at 15% of its treasury, which stood at $970.2 million as of October 31, 2024. In practice, that points to a lower need to sell ETH to fund ongoing work.
Taken together, the reset is about a narrower mission, less centralized influence, and lower reliance on treasury sales. The open question now is how effectively the Foundation executes on that more defined role.