Overview
- The Ethereum Foundation announced on Tuesday, June 23, that it eliminated 54 roles, roughly 20% of its staff, as part of a months-long restructuring tied to its March Mandate and new Treasury Management Policy.
- Co-founder Vitalik Buterin said the foundation will cut its 2026 operating budget by about 40% and aim to reduce annual treasury spending from roughly 15% now to about 5% by 2030 under an endowment-style model.
- Operations were reorganized into five focused clusters—protocol, access, user, community, and institutional—with separate teams for operations and management and a decision to wind down the Privacy and Scaling Explorations unit.
- Departing employees will receive severance, transition support and small grants, and several former EF researchers have launched ETHLabs with backing from major ETH treasury holders and Joseph Lubin.
- Analysts and former contributors warn there could be a three- to nine-month funding gap for independent client and research teams if outside funding does not materialize, which could disrupt protocol work and retention in the near term.