Former Ethereum Foundation core member: Ethereum may face a protocol funding crisis in the next 3 to 9 months

BlockBeats News, June 19 — Former Ethereum Foundation core developer and coordinator Trent Van Epps stated that as the foundation continues to promote the "Subtraction (DeFi governance)" strategy, the treasury size gradually shrinks, and the four-year client incentive program (CIP) expired this April, the Ethereum core development ecosystem may face a slow-burning funding crisis within the next 3 to 9 months.

Trent pointed out that currently, maintaining the normal operation of more than 10 Ethereum client teams, research institutions, and coordination organizations requires approximately $30 million annually. If funding remains insufficient, it could lead to the loss of key developers, slow down protocol upgrades, and weaken Ethereum’s long-term competitiveness in scalability, quantum computing defenses, and network maintenance. The Ethereum Foundation is not designed to be a permanent governing body; in the next decade, new institutions will need to take on protocol development responsibilities. As the foundation’s influence gradually declines, the Ethereum ecosystem urgently needs to establish new funding allocation mechanisms, governance frameworks, and institutional inheritance systems to ensure the protocol’s long-term sustainable development.