Vitalik Buterin has intensified the debate over Ethereum’s future after outlining a smaller and more focused role for the Ethereum Foundation. The Ethereum Co-Founder said the organization should prioritize decentralization, privacy, censorship resistance, and long-term sustainability instead of aggressive expansion.
His comments arrive during growing tension inside the Ethereum ecosystem following several high-profile departures from the Foundation. As a result, fresh questions have emerged around Ethereum’s leadership structure, treasury strategy, and execution pace. Ethereum was trading at $2,103.42 as of writing, according to CoinMarketCap data, marking a 0.70% decline over the past 24 hours.
Buterin shared the statement on X while responding to criticism surrounding the Foundation’s changing direction. He said the board continues expanding while his own influence inside the organization keeps shrinking. “The board is in the process of expanding, and my own power within the org will continue to decrease, which is honestly what I want,” Buterin wrote.
The co-founder warned against turning Ethereum into a network focused only on transaction speed and scalability. He framed the danger sharply: “Being as fast and as scalable as possible, and only a small epsilon more decentralized than the others, is a route to mediocrity, and if we try it we will lose.” Instead, he argued that Ethereum should strengthen what he called the “CROPS dimension,” which includes censorship resistance, capture resistance, open source, privacy, and security. Buterin has framed CROPS as “technical self-sovereignty and non-coercive cooperation” — positioning Ethereum as what he calls “sanctuary technology” rather than as a marketing-driven asset competing on benchmarks.
Ethereum foundation chooses technical stewardship
Buterin pushed back against the idea of the Ethereum Foundation serving as Ethereum’s long-term central authority. He described the Foundation as “one node, with a defined purpose, alongside other nodes,” rather than the network’s controlling force.
Moreover, he said the Foundation holds only about 0.16% of Ethereum’s total ETH supply, far less than many rival blockchain organizations; a figure lower than several individual ETH holders. As a result, he argued that Ethereum should not depend on centralized institutional control.
Buterin also defended a smaller and more focused Foundation structure. He said the organization now prioritizes “longevity over breadth” while reducing ETH sales from treasury reserves.He explicitly named EF President Aya Miyaguchi as the person leading the institutional transition, which Buterin said should stabilize over the coming months.
As part of the new direction, Buterin called for AI-assisted formal verification to make Ethereum’s core protocol provably bug-free within months — a concrete vision for what the Foundation will pursue instead of marketing-driven growth.
Departures fuel governance debate
The statement arrived during another round of high-profile departures from the Ethereum Foundation. At least eight senior contributors have left or announced plans to leave the Foundation in 2026, with five of those departures landing in May alone: Tomasz K. Stańczak stepped down as co-executive director in February 2026, less than a year into the role; Josh Stark, long-time operations and writing lead, resigned in March 2026 after seven years; Barnabé Monnot, Tim Beiko, and Trent Van Epps, all three Protocol Cluster co-leads stepped back from their roles in May 2026. Alex Stokes, another Protocol Cluster co-lead, currently on sabbatical; Julian Ma, researcher, announced exit May 18, 2026 after roughly four years on the protocol R&D team; and Carl Beek, researcher, announced exit May 18, 2026, with his final day set for May 29. Beek had been at the EF for seven years.
Meanwhile, a16z crypto research advisor Andy Hall questioned whether stricter governance could weaken Ethereum’s ability to compete with faster-moving rivals. He argued that companies with stronger ideological limits often lose ground to competitors willing to move more aggressively.
However, Buterin pushed back against that view. He said organizations built around strong principles can attract loyal communities, committed developers, and long-term support that money alone cannot easily buy. As a result, he positioned Ethereum’s future around resilience and independence rather than short-term market pressure.
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