- Vitalik Buterin said the Ethereum Foundation is not Ethereum’s central authority.
- The foundation is reducing its scope and focusing only on Ethereum’s core infrastructure.
- Several senior Ethereum researchers and developers have exited during the restructuring.
The Ethereum Foundation is moving toward a smaller role inside the Ethereum ecosystem, according to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin.
Buterin said the foundation should not operate like Ethereum’s headquarters. He described it as one “node” inside a larger network of developers, researchers, companies, and independent groups building around ETH.
The comments arrive during a major internal transition at the foundation. Several high-profile researchers and developers have left in recent months, including Carl Beek, Julian Ma, Barnabé Monnot, Tim Beiko, Trent Van Epps, and Alex Stokes.
The exits raised concerns across the market about whether Ethereum can maintain upgrade speed while reducing the foundation’s influence.
Buterin said the restructuring is designed to reduce dependence on any single person or organization, including himself.
Foundation Cuts Its Scope
Buterin confirmed that the foundation’s board is expanding and that Bastian Aue is leading much of the transition work. He also stated that his own influence inside the organization will continue to decrease over time.
The foundation is moving away from broad ecosystem management. Instead, it plans to focus only on areas tied directly to Ethereum’s base layer strength, including censorship resistance, privacy, security, openness, and protection from centralized control.
According to Buterin, the foundation was never meant to become a permanent governing body for Ethereum. He pointed out that the organization holds roughly 0.16% of all ETH in circulation, far below the 10% to 50% holdings commonly seen in other blockchain foundations.
He added that the Ethereum Foundation completed the original mission outlined during Ethereum’s early launch years in 2022. The original scope included building the chain and delivering major upgrades such as Frontier, Homestead, Metropolis, and Serenity.
The foundation now plans to preserve capital and extend its lifespan rather than expand aggressively across the ecosystem. Buterin said this approach will likely result in less ETH being sold by the organization.
Related: Vitalik Buterin Expresses Support for AI-Assisted Verification in Crypto Systems
Developers Leave During Major Upgrade Cycle
The timing of the restructuring matters because Ethereum is already in the middle of several technical upgrades. The foundation recently assigned Will Corcoran, Kev Wedderburn, and Fredrik to new protocol coordination roles after leadership changes inside the core research teams.
Ethereum developers are currently focused on upgrades tied to Glamsterdam and Hegotá. Other technical priorities include pushing the network toward a 200 million gas limit floor after Glamsterdam, stabilizing ePBS, advancing EIP-8037 repricing, and continuing work around FOCIL.
The concern inside the market is not whether Ethereum survives the transition. The network still dominates large parts of DeFi, stablecoin settlement, NFTs, and Layer 2 infrastructure. But the bigger question is whether ETH can continue shipping upgrades at the same pace with contributors leaving.
Related: Vitalik Buterin Backs New Ethereum Privacy Initiatives and EIP-8250
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