Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said the Ethereum Foundation would choose “longevity over breadth,” reduce ETH sales, and focus on CROPS: censorship resistance, capture resistance, openness, privacy, and security.
In a lengthy article on
Nearly 90% of its own net worth is in ETH, with the remaining $40 million in onchain fiat already earmarked for biotech, open source software and hardware initiatives, Buterin added.
His influence within the FE will continue to diminish as the board grows, consistent with his desire to be less influential there. However, he also hid his remarks, saying, “This is just my own point of view. The board is not just me, and I don’t have any additional special powers on the board that other board members don’t have. »
He defined the EF as “a node, with a defined purpose, alongside other nodes,” not as the center of Ethereum. Regarding throughput, Buterin said it would be a mistake for Ethereum to max it out.
“Being as fast and scalable as possible, and only a small epsilon more decentralized than the rest, is a path to mediocrity, and if we try it, we will lose.”
Instead, Buterin emphasized that Ethereum strives to be “deeply impressive” in what he called the “CROPS dimension.” This involves making Ethereum bug-free, which would be within reach given AI-based verification.
The position was created after the departure or announcement of departures of at least 8 senior EF contributors in 2026, including 5 in the month of May alone, reigniting the debate on the direction of the foundation.
The crypto community reacts
Prominent voices from Ethereum supported Buterin.
Anthony Sassano, an independent Ethereum educator, angel investor, and advisor, responded directly to the post, thanking Buterin. A separate quote tweet from Sassano focused on Buterin’s presentation of ETH as the most valuable “commodity” on the Ethereum blockchain.
Author and early Ethereum advisor William Mougayar tweeted the message: “Basically, Ethereum just got its own Clarity Act this weekend. It was a crystal clear message, and the path forward is very clear. Ethereum is untouchable.”
Developer Suhail Kakar also responded directly, calling the post “optimistic.” “A foundation voluntarily curtailing its own power is the rarest thing in crypto. Truly the most cypherpunk thing I’ve read in a long time.”
Meanwhile, core developers have chosen the CROPS framework.
Marius van der Wijden, developer of Go-Ethereum, responded that security was under-discussed: “When people talk about CROPS, they seem to focus on the CR, OS and privacy part.
Consensus layer developer Potuz continued in the thread, noting that “one of Ethereum’s biggest selling points is the lack of downtime since genesis” and that the filing made each fork a concentrated risk.
Unchained host Laura Shin asked the governance question that the post left open: “What is the process for adding new board members?” Buterin has not responded publicly as of this writing. DeFiPrime founder Nick Sawinyh noted that the EF now looks “less like a cathedral and more like a common protocol operator.”
Others have criticized the cryptocurrency’s performance. Ether has fallen almost 60% against Bitcoin over the past five years, to 0.02738 BTC. During this period, the price of bitcoin has almost doubled from $35,600 to $77,500 at the time of writing.
Read more: Ethereum’s identity crisis deepens after high-profile ‘brain drain’ frustrates community
