Vitalik Buterin said the Ethereum Foundation will become smaller, more selective and less reliant on ETH sales as it narrows its long-term role around Ethereum’s core values of censorship resistance, openness, privacy and security.
In a post on X, Buterin said the foundation is not the “center of Ethereum,” but rather one node in a wider ecosystem with a defined purpose, adding that the organization is choosing “longevity over breadth” as it uses its remaining resources more carefully, sells less ETH and focuses on work that may not otherwise happen elsewhere in the ecosystem.
Ethereum Foundation redefines its role
Buterin said the foundation was originally created with a limited mandate tied to Ethereum’s early development milestones, including building the chain software and guiding the network through major launch phases that were completed by 2022.
He noted that the EF holds about 0.16% of all ETH, far less than the central foundations behind many other blockchain projects, and said it was not designed to act as an eternal steward of the network.
Instead, the foundation is now moving to make clearer choices about where it should contribute and where other organizations should step in.
According to Buterin, that shift could place respected contributors and mission-aligned teams outside the EF, a change he described as necessary for important projects to attract outside capital and for Ethereum to avoid relying too heavily on one institution.
Focus turns to CROPS values
Buterin framed the foundation’s future around what he called the CROPS dimension: censorship and capture resistance, openness, privacy and security.
He argued that Ethereum should not compete mainly by chasing the highest transaction speeds or the most aggressive throughput targets, warning that such a path could push the network toward mediocrity. Instead, he said Ethereum should aim to become “deeply impressive” in areas that make it technically and socially distinct.
Among the priorities he listed were provably bug-free Ethereum, stronger consensus resilience, and reducing reliance on intermediaries for transaction inclusion. He also pointed to work around FOCIL, EIP-8141 and Kohaku as part of a broader push to make Ethereum less dependent on third parties across both protocol and user layers.
Buterin outlines EF’s leaner next phase
The comments come as the Ethereum Foundation continues a transition that Buterin said began after major internal improvements in 2025, when execution, efficiency and focus became stronger across the organization.
Buterin said the foundation’s new long-term form is expected to stabilize over the next few months, as his own influence inside the organization continues to decrease while the board expands, stressing that his comments reflected his own view, not a unilateral decision.
For Ethereum, the shift marks a more assertive phase for its most visible foundation, with Buterin saying the EF will be a “smaller ship” than in past years, but one built to last longer and better support Ethereum’s role as a secure, open and meaningful technology.