Ethereum Foundation Announces Five-Year Austerity Plan, Allocates 16,384 ETH for Core Projects

Highlights:

• Ethereum Foundation starts five-year austerity plan to balance growth and sustainability.
• Vitalik Buterin withdraws 16,384 ETH to support secure open-source technology projects.
• Foundation holds 172,000 ETH reserves while reducing grants after past heavy spending.

The Ethereum Foundation has announced a new five-year plan combining financial restraint with development goals. Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum’s founder, said the group will enter a period of mild austerity to secure long-term sustainability while keeping its roadmap on track. The new plan follows his announcement of the renewal of the DAO, nearly ten years after it was shut down due to a hack.

Ethereum Foundation’s Key Priorities and Funding Plans

The plan has two key priorities. First, Ethereum must remain a scalable, high-performance world computer without sacrificing decentralization, power, or sustainability. Second, the Foundation wants to protect itself while keeping the blockchain’s core mission intact and providing users with privacy, security, and control.

Buterin also talked about his personal involvement in this transition. He stated that he will take up tasks that might have been “special projects” before. The goal is to develop an open-source, secure, and verifiable stack of software and hardware to protect personal and public spaces.

Buterin has withdrawn 16,384 ETH to fund these goals. Over the next few years, the funds will go to projects that improve openness and verifiability. Some of this ETH will be staked to earn passive income. The projects cover finance, communication, governance, operating systems, secure hardware, and biotech.

In these five years, the Ethereum Foundation is entering a period of mild austerity, in order to be able to simultaneously meet two goals:

1. Deliver on an aggressive roadmap that ensures Ethereum's status as a performant and scalable world computer that does not compromise on…

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) January 30, 2026

Buterin mentioned examples like the Vensa project for open silicon, the uCritter platform with advanced privacy, and his donations to encrypted messaging apps. His focus is on privacy-first, local-first software that empowers communities.

The Ethereum Foundation now holds 172,000 ETH after years of allocations and distributions. However, the Grant Provider wallet now has only 189 ETH, which shows a sharp drop in funds available for grants. This is a change from past years, when spending sometimes reached $100 million annually.

Ethereum Focuses on Openness and Cooperation

Ethereum is central to Buterin’s vision of “full-stack openness and verifiability.” The Foundation will keep building Ethereum as a base for cooperation, not to dominate. He said the focus is on “Ethereum for people who need it,” not corporate control. This approach avoids systems where openness is costly. Instead, it aims for true openness with security and verification.

Buterin explained:

“In a world where for many the usual mindset is to participate in a race to become a big and strong bully, otherwise the existing big and strong bullies will eat you first, our path represents a necessary alternative. Its success will require much more than technology, but the technical layer is what we have the power to implement”.

Ethereum is currently trading at $2,750 following a significant decline in January. The cryptocurrency has depreciated by 6-7% in the last 24 hours and by 8-9% in the last year. The market value has reverted to the $2,700-$2,800 region, which served as a level of support in the past.