Donovan Choy

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It is frankly really hard to be the Ethereum Foundation.



Your job is to fund public goods R&amp;D and ship complex network upgrades. But that means you’re also constantly choosing between selling ETH and being yelled at for selling ETH.



The EF has a staff of about 200 employees and an annual operating budget of ~$145 million. That money comes from a treasury of largely ETH. That ETH needs to be sold to pay your staff, but ETH holders dislike when you sell the thing they own. This is crypto’s most uniquely recurring theme: “Please make number go up, while also paying for things with the number.”



So the Crypto Twitter peanut gallery wants the EF to know they can simply “use DeFi.” Put the ETH in a lending vault, collect yield and stop wrecking the ETH chart, please.



The EF has historically been reluctant to do that for obvious reasons: It is not the job of a neutral ecosystem steward to be making complex risk management decisions.



Yet, yesterday the Ethereum Foundation doubled down on its use of DeFi (a <a href="https://x.com/ethereumfndn/status/1889978208986280031">continuation</a> since February). The EF deposited 2400 ETH ($9.1 million) and $6 million of stablecoins into Morpho’s vaults.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">0/ Today, the Ethereum Foundation deposited 2400 ETH and ~$6M stablecoins into Morpho’s yield-bearing vaults. Morpho is a pioneer in permissionless DeFi protocols and consistently demonstrates a commitment to Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) principles.&mdash; Ethereum Foundation (@ethereumfndn) <a href="https://twitter.com/ethereumfndn/status/1978460652877267301?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 15, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



This should be good news for bagholders, but not everyone is happy:



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="798" height="175" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-55.png" alt="" class="wp-image-109201" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-55.png?w=798 798w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-55.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-55.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-55.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-55.png?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-55.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-55.png?w=80 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 798px) 100vw, 798px" /></figure>



Where previously the Ethereum Foundation wasn’t supporting its own ecosystem, now it’s not supporting the right players, i.e. the smaller guys and underdogs.



I don’t know, man. You can’t seem to please everyone, so maybe these decisions simply shouldn’t be public.&nbsp;



You could imagine a world where the EF tries to be “fair.” It allocates capital to smaller projects, but that exposes the foundation to a wider range of smart contract/security risks.&nbsp;



Best case scenario: Nothing breaks but the foundation’s operating expenses are inflated to pay for security researchers and an investment team. Fairness is expensive. Worst case: Protocols get exploited and the EF’s treasury runway is shortened.



Solana doesn’t seem to have the same problems, namely because its foundation isn’t committed to the same levels of radical transparency as Ethereum is. Solana is selling SOL too, presumably, but no one’s upset because it’s not on the Twitter timeline.



For starters, the foundation has actively backed the Solmate DAT, and has an active partnership with the “Solana Company” DAT (previously Helius Medical). The EF has <a href="https://x.com/ethereumfndn/status/1943642682825523320">sold</a> ETH in OTC sales to DATs, but has not participated in any formal investments or partnerships with DATs.



Solana DATs, too, have been unabashedly proud about using DeFi. Forward Industries’ Kyle Samani wants Forward to be the most “natively onchain publicly traded company in the world,” he said on an <a href="https://youtu.be/1NQENVL4n4c">Empire</a> podcast, teasing the use of SOL in select Solana protocols.



Ethereum’s commitment to neutrality is admirable (remember when Justin Drake had to <a href="https://x.com/drakefjustin/status/1852734263541874824">step down</a> as an advisor to Eigenlayer for violating that tenet?).



But no one in Solana world seems to have a problem with that, so maybe the foundation’s optimal strategy is to do the low-profile, risk-minimized thing and announce as little of it as possible.



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Digital asset treasuries

Running a blockchain foundation is actually really tough

Blockworks

The Ethereum Foundation announced the appointment of new leadership for its Privacy Research Cluster, a move designed to better coordinate ongoing work on cryptography, private computation, and secure scaling solutions.



The cluster will oversee projects ranging from zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) to multiparty computation, tools that help preserve user privacy while maintaining verifiability on Ethereum’s public blockchain, <a href="https://blog.ethereum.org/2025/10/01/privacy-cluster-leads">according</a> to a post on the Ethereum Foundation blog.



The Privacy Cluster is part of the foundation’s broader research and development framework, which also includes scaling, security, and protocol sustainability. The new leads will focus on creating standards and shared infrastructure for privacy-preserving technologies.



Privacy has long been a contested area in Ethereum’s roadmap. While zero-knowledge research has already produced mainstream tools such as zkEVM rollups, their implementation raises regulatory and security questions.



US regulators have warned that privacy-preserving protocols may fall under enhanced scrutiny if they facilitate money laundering or obscure financial records. Ethereum’s foundation, however, has emphasized that advancing privacy is critical to user autonomy and censorship resistance.



This is a developing story.



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This article was generated with the assistance of AI and reviewed by editor&nbsp;<a href="mailto:jeffrey@blockworks.co" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jeffrey Albus</a>&nbsp;before publication.



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Ethereum

Ethereum Foundation names leaders for privacy research cluster

Macauley Peterson

The Ethereum Foundation is taking a hard look in the mirror, and at the community it helped create, reflecting on what some insiders are calling the network’s deepest existential crisis in years.



A new report, <a href="https://x.com/ethereumfndn/status/1972713761653084199">published</a> yesterday and produced by research group WE3 with support from Optimism and Espresso Systems, pulls from more than 60 interviews with core developers, researchers, investors and community leaders. The project, known internally as “Mirror,” was designed to capture how <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/ethereum">Ethereum</a> is perceived from multiple vantage points.



“The goal was to understand how different audiences view Ethereum, identifying challenges and strengths, and reflect those back to the ecosystem so that we can learn from them,” the authors write.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">A network with many stories</h2>



The report begins with a striking collage of metaphors. Interviewees described Ethereum as “a world computer, a new material for civilization, and humanity’s coordination layer.” Others were more critical, calling it “a trillion-dollar casino” or even “MySpace waiting to be displaced.”



“Each metaphor captures something essential, yet none captures everything,” the report notes, underscoring how Ethereum’s identity defies consensus even among its closest allies.



This tension — between idealistic vision and harsh pragmatism — forms the backbone of the 40-page study.



The research maps Ethereum’s stakeholders into archetypes: Guardians defending its original ethos, Pioneers expanding into new frontiers, Translators bringing ideas to a broader world, and Challengers pressing on perceived stagnation. Traders, institutions, and Web3 communities round out the picture.



I’m reminded of the archetypes of a chess player espoused by Grandmaster Yuri Averbakh. Averbakh’s taxonomy of chess players, such as explorers, <a href="https://www.uschess.org/index.php/June-/From-the-Vault-Chess-Life-Interview-with-GM-Browne.html">fighters and artists</a>, was meant to explain how different minds approach the same game. Ethereum’s “archetypes” map surprisingly well onto this framework:



Guardians → Scientists (rule-based, principle-driven, maintaining order)



Pioneers → Explorers/Artists (venturing into new territory, inventing, risk-taking)



Challengers → Fighters (forcing confrontation, opportunistic, adversarial when needed)



Translators → perhaps a hybrid Scientist/Artist (bringing systematized knowledge into broader cultural language)



The study’s conclusion is blunt: “From traders chasing cheap fees to core devs chasing market relevance, the number of people prioritizing immediate needs over long-term vision is growing significantly.”



In other words, the protocol’s biggest fight may not be with rival blockchains but within its own ranks.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Stability vs. evolution</h2>



For much of the past decade, Ethereum has juggled two competing imperatives: stabilizing its base layer, and evolving fast enough to stay relevant in a competitive landscape. According to the report, those imperatives are now colliding more forcefully than ever.



“Understanding who builds, uses, and shapes Ethereum requires seeing beyond code to human motivations,” the authors write. The implication is that the project’s greatest challenge lies beyond technical roadmaps, in the messy work of governance, culture, and perception.



Ethereum still anchors the largest ecosystem in crypto, with billions locked in DeFi protocols and thousands of active developers. Yet the Mirror report suggests the protocol’s long-term positioning could hinge less on throughput benchmarks than on whether its community can reconcile divergent visions.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1600" height="889" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/image-196.png?w=1024&amp;h=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-108515" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/image-196.png?w=1600 1600w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/image-196.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/image-196.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/image-196.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/image-196.png?w=1536 1536w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/image-196.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/image-196.png?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/image-196.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/image-196.png?w=80 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">About $174 billion in stablecoins on mainnet, or more than 60% market share | Source: <a href="https://app.blockworksresearch.com/analytics/ethereum?dashboard=231">Blockworks Research</a></figcaption></figure>



For the <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/ethereum-foundation">Ethereum Foundation</a>, commissioning such a self-critical survey is notable in itself. Few large technology projects would publish an outside assessment that bluntly labels them both “a telescope pointed at stars while standing in a forest” and “a playground with forgotten toys.”



Whether Ethereum can turn those metaphors into momentum — or whether they signal further fragmentation ahead — will shape the next decade of its experiment.



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Ethereum Foundation takes stock of a turbulent decade

The Ethereum Foundation has launched a dedicated artificial intelligence initiative, underscoring its view that AI will become central to the network’s future.



The new dAI team, led by Ethereum developer Davide Crapis, was <a href="https://x.com/DavideCrapis/status/1967573374911340975">announced</a> with a mission to make Ethereum the preferred settlement and coordination layer for AI agents.&nbsp;



According to Crapis, the initiative aims to bridge blockchain and AI development by advancing standards for how autonomous agents discover, verify and transact with one another.



A near-term priority is the advancement of ERC-8004, a proposed standard for AI-agent identity and interoperability. He also compared Ethereum’s AI opportunity to the early days of DeFi, suggesting grassroots adoption could precede eventual institutional integration, as originally <a href="https://decrypt.co/339352/ethereum-foundation-ai-team-underscoring-networks-future-priorities">reported</a> by Decrypt.



Longer term, the dAI team is pursuing a decentralized AI stack designed to provide open, verifiable and censorship-resistant alternatives to corporate-controlled systems. Crapis described this as a critical safeguard to prevent AI infrastructure from consolidating under a few powerful actors.



This move comes amid a surge of AI-related experimentation across Web3, with projects on networks like Solana, Avalanche and Polygon also exploring ways to <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/ai-agents-solana-hackathon">integrate</a> AI agents, decentralized compute and data-sharing protocols.



From tokenized AI marketplaces to autonomous trading bots, developers are <a href="https://app.blockworksresearch.com/research/crypto-and-ai-a-liquid-market-overview">increasingly</a> treating blockchains as neutral infrastructure for machine-to-machine coordination.



This is a developing story.



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This article was generated with the assistance of AI and reviewed by editor&nbsp;<a href="mailto:jeffrey@blockworks.co" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jeffrey Albus</a>&nbsp;before publication.



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Ethereum Foundation launches dAI team to steer AI integration

This is a segment from the 0xResearch newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/0xresearch" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">subscribe</a>.



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The Ethereum Foundation has redrawn its engineering playbook just as its next major hard fork, Glamsterdam, takes shape.



Announced Monday, “<a href="https://blog.ethereum.org/2025/06/02/announcing-protocol">Protocol</a>” is a reorganized EF R&amp;D division focused on three goals: scaling L1, expanding blobspace and improving UX. Project coordinator Tim Beiko set <a href="https://x.com/TimBeiko/status/1929620527670575347">the tone</a>: “Protocol is now a more united and leaner organization with more focused teams&#8230;ensuring the EF’s resources are allocated toward maximal impact.”



Beiko and Ansgar Dietrichs will co-lead L1 scaling, while Francesco D’Amato and Alex Stokes oversee blob expansion and Barnabé Monnot and Josh Rudolf lead UX. Their mandates align directly with early <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/ethereum-consensus-evm-upgrade-fusaka-devs">Glamsterdam priorities</a>.



At the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIHtUaIev4M">latest</a> AllCoreDevs call, developers floated two potential headliner EIPs: <a href="https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-7732">7732 (ePBS)</a>, which enables pipelined block validation to reduce node load, and <a href="https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-7805">7805 (FOCIL)</a>, which introduces fork-choice inclusion lists for stronger UX and censorship resistance.



“For Glamsterdam…we will have to find some ways to continue the blob scaling,” Dietrichs said on the call, adding that “there might be some EL-side scaling opportunities” too.



This new structure signals <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/steep-disconnect-ef-crypto-community">a much-needed shift</a>: less sprawl, more delivery. But the renewed focus also required layoffs. The EF hasn’t disclosed numbers, but Beiko acknowledged, “It was a difficult decision…We are deeply thankful for their contributions and are confident they will find other opportunities to impact Ethereum’s trajectory.”



Still, not everyone is reassured. Developer Micah Zoltu <a href="https://x.com/MicahZoltu/status/1929792695599616507">questioned</a> why improving censorship resistance, privacy and end-user security weren’t reaffirmed as “strategic goals,” calling the omission “incredibly concerning.” Hasu (of Flashbots and Lido) <a href="https://x.com/hasufl/status/1929799732173373614">responded</a> that prioritizing short-term usability — like cheap blobs and UX — may be necessary for Ethereum to scale without implying abandonment of its values. “More specialization [and] division of labor” between teams, he argued, is a feature, not a bug.



Yet Zoltu cautioned that unless values like CR and privacy are embedded into roadmap decisions — such as whether to include FOCIL — they risk becoming second-tier concerns. Whether Ethereum preserves its ethos while scaling depends not just on what it builds, but who decides what gets built.



That ethos sits at the heart of <a href="https://cyber.fund/content/eth">Cyber Fund’s thesis</a>: Ethereum is more than a platform — it’s a global coordination machine for programmable institutions. But that vision only holds if the system can scale without compromising neutrality or sovereignty. The Protocol reorg appears engineered for that balance.



Cyber Fund also contends that Ethereum’s dominance will deepen as rollups adopt Ethereum for data availability, enabling seamless interoperability. Shared DA does simplify trust models and bridges, but it’s not sufficient. Interop also depends on compatible proof systems and message standards, which can work across heterogeneous DA layers like <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/celestia">Celestia</a> or <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/eigenlayer-restaking-mantle-zksync">EigenDA</a> if paired with robust light clients and proof aggregation.



In practice, shared DA lowers friction, but isn’t mandatory, and may prove most valuable for DeFi and financial apps.



The bottom line is: Expectations are now high. “Ethereum stands at the edge of major breakthroughs,” Beiko <a href="https://x.com/TimBeiko/status/1929620437421773080">said</a>. “This may be our best shot at deploying not only our technology, but our values, at planetary scale.”



Glamsterdam will be the first real test of that model. As scoping progresses, it will show whether the Ethereum Foundation’s streamlined “Protocol” can move from principles to production.



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0xResearch Newsletter

Ethereum refactors itself for Glamsterdam hard fork

The lack of transparency around the Ethereum Foundation’s (EF) spending is in the limelight this week after an onchain <a href="https://x.com/lookonchain/status/1827036101858750549">transfer</a> of 35,000 ETH ($94 million) from the Foundation’s treasury to Kraken was detected on Saturday.



This prompted EF Executive Director Aya Miyaguchi to <a href="https://x.com/AyaMiyagotchi/status/1827219654999470258">clarify</a> that the transfer was part of the Foundation’s “treasury management” activities and is not necessarily “equal to a sale.”



Miyaguchi said that, due to “regulatory complications,” the Foundation was prevented from sharing the plan in advance, but there will be “planned and gradual sales” going forward.



In a separate post yesterday, Josh Stark of the EF provided a first glimpse at a breakdown of the Foundation’s spending for the last two years. He clarified, however, that the full details are expected to be published before Devcon 2024.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1600" height="519" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-60.png" alt="" class="wp-image-91186" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-60.png?w=1600 1600w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-60.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-60.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-60.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-60.png?w=1536 1536w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-60.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-60.png?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-60.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-60.png?w=80 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: <a href="https://x.com/0xstark/status/1828416179993522386">Josh Stark</a></figcaption></figure>



For the last two years, EF has spent 25-30% of its annual budget on “L1 R&amp;D.”



This includes internal spending on EF-affiliated teams like Geth, the dominant Ethereum software client on the execution layer, Privacy + Scaling Explorations, Solidity, Devcon, Ethereum.org, and more.



The second largest chunk of spending is in the “New Institutions” category. That includes external grants to organizations such as L2Beat, 0xPARC Foundation, Nomic Foundation, Decentralization Research Centre, and other Ethereum-related organizations.



The stated goal of external funding to these organizations is to “strengthen and support the Ethereum ecosystem” in the long term, Stark said.



Internal spending made up about 38% while external spending was about <a href="https://x.com/0xstark/status/1828416182036111412">62%</a>. That roughly translates to $62 million being allocated as external spending for grants, given the Foundation’s <a href="https://x.com/AyaMiyagotchi/status/1827219654999470258">annual budget</a> of roughly $100 million a year.



Assuming the annual budget is spent in its entirety, the EF has a run rate of 6-7 years at today’s ETH prices, given EF’s <a href="https://etherscan.io/address/0xde0b295669a9fd93d5f28d9ec85e40f4cb697bae">treasury</a> of 273,274 ETH ($687.5 million).



Based on the EF’s Q1 2024 <a href="https://blog.ethereum.org/2024/05/14/esp-allocation-q124">report</a>, the <a href="https://x.com/EF_ESP">Ecosystem Support Program</a> allocated $11.4 million in funding to 109 different developers, research, events, and community projects.



Additionally, when asked on X, Vitalik Buterin clarified that he’s <a href="https://x.com/VitalikButerin/status/1828418559875101058">paid</a> roughly $139,600 a year as a member of the EF.



To put the EF’s spending into context, Arbitrum DAO has spent about $70 million on its <a href="https://x.com/blockworksres/status/1820523746396184614">Short-Term Incentive Program (STIP)</a>, a grant that ran for three months since November 2023, and another $23.7 million for the <a href="https://www.tally.xyz/gov/arbitrum/proposal/110767177349707239820875764565747830009768307680609166467172874966002003291288">Long-Term Incentives Pilot Program (LTIPP)</a>.



Arbitrum also passed in May 2024 a <a href="https://www.tally.xyz/gov/arbitrum/proposal/53472400873981607449547539050199074000442490831067826984987297151333310022877">$215 million</a> grant to support its gaming ecosystem.



Cosmos’ Interchain Foundation spent $30.8 million in 2023 with the largest spending ($8.2 million) going towards the “IBC Protocol”, based on its <a href="https://medium.com/the-interchain-foundation/annual-report-2023-and-beyond-616d22dce090">2023 annual report</a>.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="674" height="406" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-58.png" alt="" class="wp-image-91184" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-58.png?w=674 674w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-58.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-58.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-58.png?w=433 433w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-58.png?w=364 364w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-58.png?w=80 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 674px) 100vw, 674px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: <a href="https://medium.com/the-interchain-foundation/annual-report-2023-and-beyond-616d22dce090">Interchain Foundation</a></figcaption></figure>



Polkadot, on the other hand, spent $87 million in the first half of 2024 alone, with $37 million going to “advertising and media, online and offline community building and events…big conferences and business development,” based on a <a href="https://forum.polkadot.network/t/2024-h1-polkadot-treasury-report/8862">treasury report</a> released in June.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="600" height="371" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-59.png" alt="" class="wp-image-91185" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-59.png?w=600 600w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-59.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-59.png?w=416 416w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-59.png?w=422 422w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-59.png?w=354 354w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-59.png?w=80 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: <a href="https://forum.polkadot.network/t/2024-h1-polkadot-treasury-report/8862">Polkadot</a></figcaption></figure>



Other major L1 Foundations, including the Solana Foundation and the Aptos Foundation, have not released formal annual spending reports.



A Sui Foundation spokesperson told Blockworks that it may release treasury reports in the future in addition to its current updates.&nbsp;



The Solana Foundation and Aptos Foundation did not immediately return a request for comment.



Disclaimer: Blockworks Research is a delegate to Arbitrum DAO.



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Ethereum Foundation

Ethereum Foundation under fire for lack of transparency in treasury management

Jack Kubinec

The Ethereum Foundation, a non-profit supporting the Ethereum ecosystem, removed the warrant canary indicating it’s never been served a government subpoena from its website on Feb. 26.&nbsp;



“[W]e have received a voluntary enquiry from a state authority that included a requirement for confidentiality,” Ethereum web developer Pablo Pettinari <a href="https://github.com/ethereum/ethereum-foundation-website/commit/769b30603504b4b5e8f601f8014691a8d1821390">wrote</a> alongside a code commit removing the canary.&nbsp;



The Ethereum Foundation performs functions such as handling grants and providing research for the Ethereum ecosystem. It emphasizes that it does not control or lead Ethereum. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin <a href="https://ethereum.foundation/ef">serves</a> on its executive board.&nbsp;



The Ethereum Foundation erroneously <a href="https://x.com/TiKawamoto/status/1130081578028273664?s=20">removed</a> its warrant canary in 2019 — though this time seems to be for real.&nbsp;



The price of ether (<a href="https://blockworks.co/price/eth">ETH</a>) <a href="https://x.com/MikeSeligEsq/status/1770475199609114831?s=20">fell</a> more than 2% immediately after the news broke, furthering a bearish week for the token.&nbsp;



Industry watchers were quick to point out that the Ethereum Foundation’s “voluntary enquiry” could be no big deal.&nbsp;



“It’s extremely common for crypto protocol foundations to receive voluntary requests for information from federal and state regulators. And subpoenas are about as sure as the sunrise for a crypto entity,” Mike Selig, partner at Willkie Farr &amp; Gallagher, <a href="https://x.com/MikeSeligEsq/status/1770475199609114831?s=20">said</a> on X.&nbsp;



The Ethereum Foundation did not immediately return a request for comment.



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