Vitalik Buterin commits $45M in ETH as Ethereum Foundation enters ‘austerity phase’

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin announced today that the Ethereum Foundation has entered what he described as a period of “mild austerity” as the organization prioritizes long-term sustainability and an aggressive technical roadmap.

As part of the shift, Buterin said he has withdrawn 16,384 $ETH, worth approximately $44 million at current prices, from his personal holdings to fund open-source, secure, and verifiable technology projects.

The capital will support work across finance, communications, governance, operating systems, secure hardware, and privacy-preserving infrastructure over the coming years, via Buterin’s official X account.

Buterin said he will take on a more hands-on role in projects that may previously have sat outside the Foundation’s core mandate. He is also exploring decentralized staking options that could generate ongoing funding for these initiatives.

The announcement comes as $ETH trades near a six-month low below $2,700, with the ecosystem facing rising competition and pressure to demonstrate real-world utility.

Buterin emphasized that Ethereum remains central to his vision of a “full stack of open and verifiable technology,” with priority placed on self-sovereignty, security, and privacy rather than enterprise-driven adoption.

He framed the strategy as a counterweight to increasingly centralized and proprietary technology stacks that dominate digital infrastructure.

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