Vitalik Buterin Calls For Smaller, Mission-Focused Ethereum Foundation During Period Of Internal Scrutiny
In Brief
Vitalik Buterin outlined a leaner vision for the Ethereum Foundation focused on decentralization, privacy and security as the organization faces governance scrutiny and senior departures.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has published an extensive statement describing his personal vision for the future direction of the Ethereum Foundation, arguing that the institution should evolve into a smaller and more narrowly focused organization dedicated primarily to preserving Ethereum’s long-term principles of decentralization, privacy, censorship resistance, and security.
In the statement, Vitalik Buterin emphasized that the views expressed were his own and did not represent the collective position of the Foundation’s board. He stressed that he does not possess greater authority than other board members and noted that much of the organization’s ongoing restructuring is being managed by Aya Miyaguchi and other leaders within the Foundation. According to him, the board itself is in the process of expanding, while his own influence inside the organization is expected to gradually diminish over time, a development he described as intentional.
The developer said the Ethereum Foundation made operational progress throughout 2025, resolving many internal inefficiencies and improving its ability to execute strategic goals. However, he argued that despite those improvements, criticism persisted from members of the Ethereum community who believed the Foundation’s actions did not always align with the values publicly associated with Ethereum, particularly in areas such as decentralization, privacy protections, and the idea of Ethereum functioning as a neutral and censorship-resistant technology platform.
At the same time, Vitalik Buterin acknowledged that others within the ecosystem viewed the Foundation’s recent direction more positively, particularly its increased emphasis on execution, coordination, and business development. He suggested that the disagreement reflected differing priorities within the community over which forms of criticism should carry the greatest weight and what Ethereum’s long-term mission should ultimately be.
In order to illustrate his point, Vitalik Buterin referenced the evolution of Google, describing how some observers continue to regard the company as a major force for organizing information and advancing technology, while others believe it gradually moved away from its earlier idealistic principles as corporate and commercial pressures intensified. He argued that large technology companies often face pressure to conform to broader industry trends, including stronger government influence, expanding surveillance systems, and increasing prioritization of financial interests. In that context, he suggested that institutions willing to resist prevailing trends can play an important role in maintaining balance, independence, and pluralism within the technology sector.
According to the developer, this philosophy also influenced the Foundation’s recently introduced Mandate framework. He reiterated that the Ethereum Foundation should not function as the “center” of Ethereum, but rather as one participant within a much broader decentralized ecosystem. While many people both inside and outside the organization historically expected the Foundation to act as Ethereum’s primary authority, he said the organization is now actively restructuring itself to avoid occupying such a position.
Vitalik Buterin argued that this shift is partly driven by practical limitations. He noted that the Foundation controls only a small percentage of the total ETH supply, far less than the centralized foundations associated with many competing blockchain networks. He also stated that the Foundation was originally established to oversee the development and launch phases of Ethereum, including milestones such as Frontier, Homestead, Metropolis, and Serenity, all of which had effectively been completed by 2022. In his view, the institution was never designed to serve indefinitely as Ethereum’s dominant governing body.
As a result, Vitalik Buterin said the Foundation is increasingly prioritizing long-term sustainability over expansion. He explained that the organization intends to focus only on activities considered essential for Ethereum’s role as an open and censorship-resistant system, particularly in areas unlikely to receive sufficient support elsewhere in the ecosystem. He added that this strategy would require difficult decisions, including allowing respected developers and projects to operate independently of the Foundation so they can attract outside funding and grow on their own terms.
The statement also outlined Vitalik Buterin’s broader technological vision for Ethereum. He argued that the network must remain technically ambitious in an era increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence and rapid advances in computing. In his assessment, simply pursuing higher transaction throughput or marginally faster performance would not be enough to distinguish Ethereum from competing blockchains. Instead, he said Ethereum should focus on becoming exceptionally strong in areas tied to the CROPS principles established by the Foundation’s March Mandate: censorship resistance, openness, privacy, and security.
Among the goals highlighted by Buterin was the possibility of creating a provably secure Ethereum protocol through AI-assisted formal verification, an area he suggested has become significantly more realistic due to recent advances in artificial intelligence. He also emphasized Ethereum’s consensus model, arguing that the network combines characteristics found separately in traditional Byzantine Fault Tolerance systems and Bitcoin-style security assumptions, giving it resilience properties that he believes few other blockchain networks currently possess.
Another major theme in the statement was reducing dependence on intermediaries across the Ethereum ecosystem. Vitalik Buterin criticized the current reliance on third parties for transaction inclusion and wallet infrastructure, calling it a source of fragility and centralization risk. He pointed to ongoing work involving technologies such as FOCIL and EIP-8141, which aim to improve transaction inclusion and reduce intermediary control, while also referencing projects designed to improve privacy and local verification at the wallet level.
Ethereum co-founder acknowledged that some of these objectives may appear overly ambitious, but argued that partially achieving them would not be sufficient to make Ethereum fundamentally distinct from competing networks. He maintained that Ethereum should pursue these goals fully while continuing to scale transaction capacity through Layer-2 networks, state-scaling research, and additional infrastructure optimizations.
The article also addressed Ethereum’s financial importance, with Buterin describing ETH as the network’s most economically significant product. He noted that Ethereum currently secures hundreds of billions of dollars in value and argued that the network’s emphasis on decentralization and security directly strengthens the long-term credibility of ETH itself. However, he added that some responsibilities connected to supporting ETH as an asset extend beyond the Foundation’s mandate and will require participation from independent organizations and major stakeholders across the ecosystem.
Vitalik Buterin concluded by stating that the Ethereum Foundation is likely to emerge from its transition period as a smaller but more durable institution with a clearer ideological identity and a more focused mission. He said the organization’s long-term objective is to ensure that Ethereum continues contributing meaningful technological and social value rather than simply competing on scale or speed alone.
Ethereum Foundation Faces Mounting Governance Questions Amid Senior Departures And Community Concerns
The publication comes amid increasing scrutiny surrounding the Ethereum Foundation following another wave of high-profile departures. Researchers Carl Beek and Julian Ma recently announced they were leaving the organization, joining a growing list of exits that this year has included former co-executive director Tomasz Stańczak, board co-steward Josh Stark, Protocol Guild contributor Trent Van Epps, protocol cluster leads Barnabé Monnot and Tim Beiko, as well as researcher Alex Stokes, who recently began a three-month sabbatical. The series of departures has intensified debate inside the Ethereum community over the Foundation’s future direction and governance structure.
Additional discussion emerged after David Hoffman, co-founder of the Bankless podcast and a long-time Ethereum advocate, disclosed that he had sold his entire ETH position despite previously describing the cryptocurrency as representing nearly all of his personal holdings.
The departures followed the Ethereum Foundation’s March Mandate, a 38-page document that formally introduced the CROPS framework and described the Foundation as one steward among many participants in the Ethereum ecosystem rather than the primary driver of adoption. However, no single explanation has been provided for the recent exits, prompting concern and calls for greater transparency from several prominent community figures. Prysm contributor Potuz described the situation as a “textbook case” of organizational capture, while researcher Dankrad Feist, who previously left the Foundation for the Stripe-backed blockchain project Tempo, proposed the creation of a separately funded organization worth $1 billion that would be directly accountable to ETH holders.
Disclaimer
In line with the Trust Project guidelines, please note that the information provided on this page is not intended to be and should not be interpreted as legal, tax, investment, financial, or any other form of advice. It is important to only invest what you can afford to lose and to seek independent financial advice if you have any doubts. For further information, we suggest referring to the terms and conditions as well as the help and support pages provided by the issuer or advertiser. MetaversePost is committed to accurate, unbiased reporting, but market conditions are subject to change without notice.
About The Author
Alisa, a dedicated journalist at the MPost, specializes in crypto, AI, investments, and the expansive realm of Web3. With a keen eye for emerging trends and technologies, she delivers comprehensive coverage to inform and engage readers in the ever-evolving landscape of digital finance.
More articles
Alisa, a dedicated journalist at the MPost, specializes in crypto, AI, investments, and the expansive realm of Web3. With a keen eye for emerging trends and technologies, she delivers comprehensive coverage to inform and engage readers in the ever-evolving landscape of digital finance.
