Ethereum Foundation
The Ethereum Foundation (EF) is a Swiss non-profit organization established in July 2014 to support the development and growth of Ethereum and its ecosystem. It funds core protocol research, client development, developer tooling, and public goods, and hosts Devcon, the annual global Ethereum developer conference. The EF does not control Ethereum's development directly but acts as one steward among many in the broader ecosystem.
History
The Ethereum Foundation was incorporated in Switzerland in July 2014, shortly before the network's public token sale, which raised approximately 31,000 BTC to fund early development.[1] Switzerland was chosen for its favorable regulatory environment for non-profits and its established tradition of institutional neutrality.
In its early years the EF played a central operational role in Ethereum's development, directly employing many of the core researchers and engineers working on the protocol. As the ecosystem matured, the foundation progressively decentralized this work, supporting independent client teams, research groups, and infrastructure projects rather than building everything internally.
Aya Miyaguchi joined as Executive Director in 2018 and served in that role through 2025, during which the foundation expanded its grants programs substantially. EF grant expenditure grew from $26.9 million across 136 projects in 2021 to $61.1 million across 498 projects in 2023.[2]
2025 leadership restructuring
In January 2025, Vitalik Buterin publicly signaled a major restructuring of the foundation's leadership, framing it as part of a broader reorientation toward technical focus and Ethereum's founding cypherpunk values. Aya Miyaguchi transitioned from Executive Director to President of the Board. Hsiao-Wei Wang and Tomasz Stańczak were appointed as co-executive directors.[3]
The restructuring was followed by a period of significant staff turnover through 2025 and into 2026, with a number of senior researchers and developers departing the foundation. In mid-2026, the EF announced a reorganization reducing its workforce by approximately 20% (54 staff members) and adopted a seven-cluster organizational structure with clearer accountability across core domains including protocol security, censorship resistance, and user self-sovereignty.[4]
The EF Mandate
On March 13, 2026, the EF Board published the EF Mandate, a foundational document framing the foundation's role and priorities. The Mandate codified CROPS — Censorship resistance, Open source, Privacy, Security — as the non-negotiable properties the EF commits to protecting, and defined the EF's position as one steward among many rather than a central authority over Ethereum's direction.[5] The document was also published on-chain for permanent accessibility.
Programs and activities
Ecosystem support program
The Ecosystem Support Program (ESP) is the EF's primary grants vehicle, funding free and open-source projects that strengthen Ethereum's foundations. Areas of focus include builder tools, infrastructure, research, and community resources. The program has funded hundreds of projects annually since its launch.
Devcon
Devcon is the Ethereum Foundation's annual conference, held since 2014, bringing together core developers, researchers, and ecosystem builders from around the world to share knowledge and discuss the network's future. It is one of the largest gatherings in the blockchain space.
Governance and structure
Ethereum has no CEO or single controlling entity. The EF operates as a supporting organization within the broader ecosystem rather than a governing body. The board comprises Vitalik Buterin, Aya Miyaguchi, and Patrick Storchenegger (as of mid-2026 following Hsiao-Wei Wang's resignation).[6]
Relation to Remilia
The EF's 2025–2026 reorientation toward cypherpunk values — privacy, censorship resistance, and open systems — resonated with communities connected to Remilia Corporation and Milady Maker, who had long oriented around those same principles. Vitalik Buterin's adoption of a Milady NFT as his profile picture in January 2025, during the same period as the leadership restructuring, was widely interpreted as a signal of philosophical alignment between Ethereum's founding ethos and the Milady community. The EF Mandate's CROPS framework was subsequently discussed approvingly in Remilia-adjacent discourse, including references from figures such as Gabriel Shapiro and in community publications like the Milady Zine 02.
Shiro's artwork contributed design influences to the EF Mandate document itself.
See also
References
- ↑ "History of Ethereum: founder, launch and ownership". ethereum.org. Retrieved 2026-06-23.
- ↑ "Understanding the Ethereum Foundation: Structure, Funding & Future". Gate Learn. Retrieved 2026-06-23.
- ↑ 2025-04-28. "Ethereum Foundation's Management and Board Structure". Ethereum Foundation Blog. Retrieved 2026-06-23.
- ↑ "The Ethereum Foundation's Spring 2026 Reshuffle: Departures, the Mandate, and the Glamsterdam Window". DeFi Prime. Retrieved 2026-06-23.
- ↑ 2026-03-13. "The Promise of Ethereum: Introducing the EF Mandate". Ethereum Foundation Blog. Retrieved 2026-06-23.
- ↑ "Ethereum Foundation Leadership: The Complete Tracker". ETH Daily. Retrieved 2026-06-23.