Vitalik Buterin: Ethereum Foundation to Scale Down, Reduce ETH Sales

ChainCatcher report, according to The Block, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin published a lengthy post on X addressing recent turmoil at the Ethereum Foundation and the wave of researcher departures. Buterin stated that the foundation is choosing “long-term survival over being all-encompassing,” reducing ETH sales and focusing on Ethereum’s CROPS attributes—censorship resistance, openness, privacy, and security. He emphasized that this post represents only his personal views and that his influence within the organization will continue to diminish, which aligns with his intentions. Buterin believes the EF should be understood as “one node among many with a clear purpose,” not as the center of Ethereum. He noted that the foundation holds approximately 0.16% of ETH, whereas other blockchain foundations typically hold 10% to 50% of their own token supply. The foundation will concentrate on key activities only it can drive, while respected contributors and projects remain outside the foundation, helping to attract external capital. On technical priorities, Buterin outlined three focus areas: achieving a “provably bug-free Ethereum” through AI-assisted formal verification, viable chain consensus, and minimization of intermediaries. He explicitly rejected the notion that Ethereum should compete solely on speed, calling it “a path to mediocrity.” Buterin concluded that the EF will be smaller than in previous years, with a more distinct stance—sometimes difficult to understand—but also more enduring; the foundation’s new long-term operational model is expected to stabilize over the coming months.