Former Ethereum Foundation Staffer Warns Reduced Role Could Leave Core Development Funding Gap

Former Ethereum Foundation staffer Trent Van Epps, who handled funding support for core Ethereum development, warned that the foundation’s pullback could create a structural funding gap for key development work.

Van Epps told CoinDesk on June 26 that Ethereum’s long-term decentralization strategy is entering a critical transition. The Ethereum Foundation is intentionally reducing its central role rather than expanding its authority, and new funding institutions need to be built quickly, he said.

Core protocol development requires about $30 million a year, while the foundation’s funds continue to shrink. The key issue, he said, is not technical demand but who will consistently support development that serves as a public good for network stability and security.

Over the next decade, Ethereum governance will move toward a more decentralized structure, with the foundation taking on only a limited role. New institutions focused on research, commercialization and ecosystem expansion are expected to emerge.

He added that Ethereum still holds a leading position in decentralized finance, stablecoin payments and the EVM ecosystem, and that those network effects will be difficult for competitors to replicate.