Vitalik Buterin: The Ethereum Foundation will cut its budget by approximately 40% in 2026.

The Ethereum Foundation is transitioning to a more economical capital management model, resembling a purpose-driven fund.

Currently, the foundation spends about 15% of its reserves annually, but it plans to reduce this figure to 5% per year after 2030.

To cut costs, the Ethereum Foundation plans to:

• shut down the Privacy and Scaling Explorations (PSE) division;
• hold more compact and cost-effective Devcon conferences;
• narrow its institutional strategy;
• focus on more specialized developer teams leveraging AI for formal code verification.

The cuts are necessary to ensure funding for Ethereum’s long-term roadmap. After completing the current stage of network development, the foundation envisions Ethereum’s future as a more mature protocol, where the primary focus will be on security and targeted improvements rather than constantly adding new features.