On May 24, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin published a long post on X confirming that he holds about 90% of his net worth in ETH, with the remaining roughly $40 million allocated on-chain in the form of stablecoins to open-source biotechnology, software, and hardware projects. The Ethereum Foundation (EF) will reduce selling ETH and instead cover required expenses through protocol revenues and support from external capital, to extend the institution’s long-term viability.
EF’s confirmed restructuring framework: scale, scope of responsibilities, and CROPS focus
In the long post, Buterin confirmed the following core elements of the EF restructuring:
Scale direction: The EF will be smaller than in prior years, focusing on “key activities that only it can drive”; some respected contributors and projects will not fall within the EF’s funding scope. Buterin said this is “necessary, not accidental”—if the goal is to attract external capital to important missions, teams operating independently outside the foundation are more fundable than keeping them inside the foundation.
CROPS strategic focus: The new EF priorities are confirmed as four attributes: Censorship resistance/anti-capture, Openness (open source), Privacy, and Security. Buterin cited the EF bylaws from March 13, saying the EF should be understood as “a node with a clear mission running alongside other nodes,” rather than as the center of Ethereum.
ETH sale direction: The EF will sell less ETH and shift to covering required expenses through protocol revenues and support from external capital, to extend the institution’s long-term viability.
Leadership status: Bastian Aue will replace Thomas Stanzak as interim co-executive director, while Aya Miyaguchi handles transition operations and the board of directors is “expanding.” Buterin’s personal influence within the organization continues to decline. Buterin said the foundation’s new long-term operating model is expected to become stable in the coming months.
Three confirmed technical priority directions
In the long post, Buterin proposed three technical directions he believes should define Ethereum’s next phase:
“An Ethereum that can be proven bug-free”—achieved through AI-assisted formal verification. Buterin said this goal was widely considered impossible six months ago, but is now close to being achievable. “Usable chain consensus”—Buterin confirmed Ethereum already has this feature; after streamlining consensus, it will remain the only public chain that provides traditional BFT-style security in asynchronous environments and Bitcoin-style PoW security that can withstand 49% attackers in synchronous environments. Minimizing intermediate layers—the ongoing work includes FOCIL, EIP-8141, EIP-7701, and EF’s Kohaku wallet framework.
Buterin explicitly opposes competing on speed alone: “If you only chase speed and scalability, and decentralization is only slightly higher than other projects, that will lead to mediocrity. If we do this, we will ultimately fail.” He also confirmed that the technical priorities above are not in conflict with high TPS, shorter slot times, and L2s designed for specific applications.
FAQ
What exactly does Buterin mean by “holding about 90% of net assets in ETH,” and how will the remaining $40 million be used?
In the long post, Buterin confirmed that about 90% of his personal net worth is held in ETH. Against the backdrop of ETH’s market value exceeding $25 billion, his ETH holdings are significant (the exact number of tokens is not disclosed). He also revealed that the remaining roughly $40 million is held in the form of on-chain fiat (stablecoins) and has been allocated to open-source biotechnology, software, and hardware-related projects. Both types of assets are his personal financial allocations outside the EF organizational framework, completely separate from EF’s institutional finances.
Does EF’s share of only 0.16% ETH mean its financial resources are very limited?
EF’s ETH reserves are not based on “the share of holdings,” but on “the absolute amount held.” According to historical records, in Ethereum’s 2014 sale documentation, about 6 million ETH was allocated to EF’s long-term donation fund (about 10% of the 60 million ETH raised in 2014 crowdfunding, or about 8.3% of Ethereum’s genesis supply of 72 million ETH). EF’s reserves are 99.1% ETH, and even at current market prices they still represent a substantial amount of capital. The 0.16% figure reflects a relatively decentralized holding structure; Buterin compared this to the situation where other public-chain foundations typically hold their own tokens in the range of 10%-50%, emphasizing that the EF does not have a financial base for “centralized control.”
What is the connection between Dankrad Feist’s proposal to raise $1 billion for an independent advocacy organization and EF’s CROPS direction?
After leaving EF full-time, Dankrad Feist joined Tempo (an independent Ethereum ecosystem organization). This week, he also proposed raising $1 billion for a new independent Ethereum advocacy organization, which is positioned as being “more economically aligned with ETH assets.” In the long post, Buterin effectively echoed this direction: he said that supporting “certain necessary work” for ETH as an asset goes beyond the EF’s new responsibility scope, and he explicitly called on “other organizations holding more ETH” (including institutions whose holdings are higher than the EF’s) to take on those tasks. From this perspective, Feist’s proposal aligns with Buterin’s description that “Ethereum’s ecosystem needs more external nodes operating in parallel,” rather than being in opposition.
