V神 lays it all out: The Foundation has run out of money! 90% of my assets are in Ethereum.

In an ecosystem worth hundreds of billions of dollars, its core Foundation only holds 0.16% of ETH. No money, no income, barely able to pay salaries—V神 finally openly admits this heartbreaking truth to all Ethereum followers.

In the early hours of May 25th, Vitalik posted a long article on X. It wasn’t a grand vision declaration, more like a memo written to the Foundation.

The question everyone wants to ask

Over the past few months, Ethereum has had a tough time.

ETH has fallen from nearly $5,000 in August last year to around $2,000 by mid-May, a decline of about 57% from its all-time high. It even dipped below $1,800 in February, forcing many to exit. The ETH/BTC exchange rate dropped to 0.02752 on May 18th, hitting a new low for this bear market—over 35% underperforming BTC in the past year.

The community’s criticism has never stopped. One voice is growing louder:

What is the Ethereum Foundation actually doing? Why keep selling?

This time, V神 finally responds personally.

A painful truth

The answer surprised many, but also made more feel heartbroken.

In his long post, V神 revealed that the Ethereum Foundation currently holds only about 0.16% of the total ETH supply, worth approximately $408 million. In comparison, other blockchain central foundations usually hold 10% to 50% of the native tokens.

The more troubling issue is— the Foundation has no ongoing revenue stream. No staking, no transaction fee income; its only source of funds is selling the ETH it holds.

Not selling tokens, and it can’t even pay salaries.

So, V神 made a decision:

The Foundation’s transformation

From “the central bank of the Ethereum ecosystem” to a “small node with a clear mission.” Cut personnel, scale down, focus on CROPS (Censorship Resistance, Openness, Privacy, Security)—core values, and reduce the frequency of ETH sales.

But he also made it clear—

Other organizations need to step up in areas where the Foundation cannot cover, such as more actively supporting ETH’s value as an asset.

This statement is aimed at insiders, who understand it well.

90% of assets staked on faith

Among all the information, perhaps the most touching is this line.

V神 added: “I personally have 90% of my net worth in ETH.”

A founder betting nine-tenths of his wealth on his own project. At a time when Ethereum faces its biggest price pressure and market doubts in a year.

Meanwhile, the market is criticizing “ETH underperforming BTC,” the community is shouting “faith collapsing.” Talent is also leaving—at least seven core members have left this year, from co-executive directors to protocol researchers, from upgrade coordinators to cryptography experts. Former Foundation core researcher Dankrad Feist even publicly called for raising at least $1 billion to establish a new organization to “save” Ethereum.

What is the cost of faith? It’s riding the roller coaster with 90% of your assets, even heavier than most.

V神 proves one thing with his holdings: he’s truly all-in. But the question is—can an all-in founder’s commitment lead to an all-time high in price?

A harsh reality all projects dislike facing

The Foundation’s predicament exposes a harsh truth that all decentralized projects are reluctant to admit:

Decentralized ecosystems cannot sustain their “central government.”

Ethereum’s ecosystem is indeed operational. Layer 2s are flourishing, DeFi, NFTs, RWA are all active. TVL has fallen from about $120 billion at the start of the year to around $86 billion, but the ecosystem’s foundation remains. The problem is, this prosperity doesn’t generate direct income for the Foundation. It has no stable revenue source and can only keep operating by selling tokens. Selling tokens creates selling pressure, which weakens the price; a weak price undermines faith.

V神’s recent disclosure is actually a tough choice: to let the Foundation “step back,” so Ethereum can “survive.”

He rejected the “high TPS race” route, calling it “a path to mediocrity,” and named competitors like Solana and BNB. He chooses to make Ethereum more like a value store and privacy-focused protocol, rather than a typical public chain chasing the fastest transactions. He said his influence will “continue to decline,” describing it as his personal preference.

How much is faith really worth?

Returning to the original question.

The Foundation’s predicament is real—holding only 0.16%, no ongoing income, and selling tokens to keep the lights on. V神’s 90% net worth in ETH is real, too.

A founder daring to stake his entire wealth isn’t doing so because he believes the price will definitely rise tomorrow, but because he believes in the long-term value of this ecosystem.

As for whether the market believes—let time tell.