Compiled & organized by: Karen, Foresight News
Previously, the spending situation of the Ethereum Foundation had raised widespread concerns in the community, with community members consistently calling for increased transparency. Today, the Ethereum Foundation formally released a report that comprehensively and thoroughly introduces the foundation's core values, expenditure details, treasury status, and the overall status of the ecosystem. Foresight News has summarized and organized this information.
TL;DR
1. The three core values of the Ethereum Foundation: long-term thinking, self-restraint (Subtraction), and guardianship of values;
2. In 2022, the Ethereum Foundation spent a total of $105.4 million, with L1 research and development being the largest expense, accounting for 30.4% ($32.1 million), followed by new institutions or organizations (27.1%, $28.6 million);
3. The Ethereum Foundation spent a total of $134.9 million in 2023, nearly 28% more than in 2022, with spending on new institutions or organizations reaching $47.4 million (35.2%), while L1 research and development spending accounted for 25.7%;
4. As of October 31, 2024, the total amount of the Ethereum Foundation treasury is approximately $970.2 million, which includes $788.7 million in cryptocurrency assets and $181.5 million in non-cryptocurrency investments and assets;
5. Among the cryptocurrency assets held by the Ethereum Foundation, 99.45% is ETH, which accounts for 0.26% of the total ETH supply as of October 31, 2024;
6. The total value held by project treasuries within the Ethereum ecosystem amounts to $22.2 billion. From 2022 to 2023, the Ethereum ecosystem deployed a total of $497 million to support projects across the entire Ethereum community.
Three core values of the Ethereum Foundation
The Ethereum Foundation (EF) is composed of multiple independent teams. The Ethereum Foundation believes that small autonomous teams are the most efficient structure. New teams typically grow organically by differentiating from existing teams to respond to new demands in the ecosystem. The teams of the Ethereum Foundation contribute to many areas of the Ethereum ecosystem. Some teams focus on software development or exploring the cutting edge of the Ethereum roadmap; others assist in the development of the global developer and user ecosystem; while other teams are responsible for promoting the utility and potential of Ethereum worldwide and providing related education.
The three core values of the Ethereum Foundation: long-term thinking, self-restraint (Subtraction), and guardianship of values.
Long-term thinking: The Ethereum Foundation believes that the ecosystem sometimes focuses too much on very short-term goals and cycles. The Ethereum Foundation should act as a counterbalance to this trend: looking beyond the ups and downs of market cycles and focusing on the long-term vision.
Self-restraint: Not pursuing power and prestige, success is measured by the achievements of the Ethereum ecosystem, rather than by the Ethereum Foundation itself.
Guardianship of values: Ethereum is not just a technology, but a community formed by shared values.
Ethereum Foundation activities and expenditures
Over the past two years, Ethereum has been dedicated to fostering and supporting many new organizations that are driving the Ethereum ecosystem forward, such as Argot Collective (composed of 25 former team members of the Ethereum Foundation, focused on core infrastructure development), Geodework (building community and educational infrastructure), L2BEAT (providing analysis, research, and tools related to Ethereum L2 projects), Nomic Foundation (providing open-source engineering software), and 0xPARC (accelerating the development and deployment of programmable cryptography).
In 2022, the Ethereum Foundation spent a total of $105.4 million, with L1 research and development being the largest expense, accounting for 30.4% ($32.1 million), followed by new institutions or organizations (27.1%, $28.6 million), community development (18.5%), internal operations (Internal Ops, general expenses supporting all EF teams, 8.1%), developer platforms (7.9%), Applied ZK (7.2%), and L2 research and development (0.8%). Among the expenses for new institutions or organizations are grants to organizations such as Nomic Foundation, 0xPARC, and L2BEAT.
In 2023, the Ethereum Foundation spent a total of $134.9 million, nearly 28% more than in 2022, with a significant increase in spending on new institutions or organizations, reaching $47.4 million (35.2%), while spending on L1 research and development decreased to 25.7%, although in terms of expenditure amount, it still slightly exceeds that of 2022. Other expenditures include community development (12.5%), Applied ZK (11.0%), internal operations (7.7%), developer platforms (6.5%), and L2 research and development (1.4%).
Ethereum Foundation Treasury
As of October 31, 2024, the total amount of the Ethereum Foundation treasury is approximately $970.2 million, which includes $788.7 million in cryptocurrency assets and $181.5 million in non-cryptocurrency investments and assets.
Among the cryptocurrency assets held by the Ethereum Foundation, the vast majority (99.45%) is ETH, which accounts for 0.26% of the total ETH supply as of October 31, 2024.
The Ethereum Foundation stated, 'The reason we chose to hold most of our treasury assets in ETH is because we believe in Ethereum's potential. At the same time, the goal of the Ethereum Foundation's treasury is to fund significant public goods for the Ethereum ecosystem in the coming years. To achieve this goal, we must adhere to sound treasury management policies, ensuring that we have sufficient resources even in the event of prolonged market downturns. This requires us to periodically sell ETH to ensure we have enough savings for the coming years and to programmatically increase our fiat currency savings during bull markets to fund expenditures during bear markets.'
Ethereum Ecosystem Treasury
The chart below shows the total value held by project treasuries within the Ethereum ecosystem, reaching $22.2 billion, which includes the liquid funds available for projects and funds that have not yet been released. Most project treasuries are primarily composed of the project's native tokens. These treasury funds will support the development and maintenance of the Ethereum ecosystem.
From 2022 to 2023, the Ethereum ecosystem deployed a total of $497 million to support projects across the entire community.
