The Ethereum Foundation laid off 54 employees (roughly 20% of staff) and announced a 40% budget reduction as part of a months-long reorganization to become a leaner, endowment-based organization. The cuts follow the recent resignation of co-Executive Director Hsiao-Wei Wang.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin responded to community criticism by announcing the Ethereum Foundation will become a 'smaller ship' focused on CROPS (core research), sell less ETH, and expand its board to reduce his personal influence. The announcement comes amid an exodus of top researchers from the foundation.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin delivered a sharp critique of superficial decentralization in crypto, urging developers to adopt concrete security tests, default privacy protections, and user-first design principles to preserve the ecosystem’s core values.
