Ethereum Faces Core Development Funding Crisis, Former Contributor Warns

Ethereum core development spans more than 10 execution and consensus clients, as well as research and coordination teams responsible for network upgrades, security patches and maintenance. The work has long been funded primarily by the Ethereum Foundation. As the foundation pursues a “subtraction” governance model and gradually decentralizes authority, the protocol’s security and ability to retain talent hinge on establishing diverse, sustainable sources of public-goods funding.

Former Ethereum Foundation contributor Trenton Van Epps warned on June 18, 2026, that the Client Incentive Program had expired in April and that the foundation was cutting spending. Core development requires about $30 million annually and could face a funding gap within three to nine months. About 19 people have left the foundation or been laid off in 2026, including co-executive director Hsiao-Wei Wang.