Buterin to Shrink Ethereum Foundation, Focus on CROPS

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin wrote on X that the Ethereum Foundation will shrink into a “smaller ship” and concentrate on core protocol work under a framework called CROPS. The announcement came after several senior researchers and staff members left the nonprofit.

Buterin described CROPS as an emphasis on censorship resistance, openness, privacy and security. He wrote the foundation should act as “one node, with a defined purpose, alongside other nodes” and that the organization will “use its remaining resources to pursue longevity over breadth.” He added the foundation is entering a period of “mild austerity” and was not designed to be an eternal steward of the network; he said many of its original technical goals were completed in 2022.

The shift follows a new mandate from the foundation issued in March that said it would not focus on boosting Ether’s price and included references to the Milady Maker NFT project. Several members of the organization’s leadership resigned after that mandate. Last week two long-time staffers stepped down, and former top researcher Dankrad Feist called for an economically aligned organization governed by a board that would aim to raise ETH’s value.

Buterin said the foundation will reduce the amount of ETH it sells on-chain while continuing to manage its remaining holdings, which he values at about $408 million. On-chain analytics show wallets linked to Buterin swapped more than 3,100 ETH on the decentralized exchange CoW Swap in recent days, transactions totaling more than $6.1 million. Those swaps left his on-chain balance at roughly 224,000 ETH, valued at about $426 million at current prices. He noted roughly 90% of his personal net worth remains tied to Ethereum and that his influence at the foundation will continue to decline.

On technical priorities, Buterin outlined work to create a provably bug-free execution environment by using advances in artificial intelligence, to preserve Ethereum’s consensus properties, and to reduce dependence on transaction middlemen. He warned that focusing solely on making transactions faster and cheaper would be “a route to mediocrity.”

Ethereum recently traded near $2,100, down about 57% from an August peak around $4,950, with a market capitalization near $255.4 billion. The Ethereum Foundation, formed more than a decade ago to support protocol development, open-source research and advocacy, will narrow its scope and concentrate funding and staff on the CROPS-aligned priorities outlined by Buterin.