Former Ethereum Foundation contributor Trent van Epps published an essay that included a warning about Ethereum core development entering a slow-burning funding crisis within the next 3 to 9 months. Van Epps worked at the Foundation from May 2021 until April 2026, coordinating core development and funding through Protocol Guild.
He attributed the risk to the Foundation's annual spend cut from 15% toward a 5% endowment-level baseline by 2030. Van Epps estimated that maintaining and shipping features across more than 10 client, research, and coordination teams costs roughly $30 million annually. The budget constraints were later formalized as Interim Executive Director Bastian Aue outlined the core execution roadmap to shift financial relationships and compensation toward ETH. The post triggered a broader debate over who should fund core developers as the Foundation narrows its mandate .
Federico Carrone, whose team builds the Ethrex execution client, pushed back and argued the squeeze could be healthy. He claimed many core teams survive only because the EF funds them regardless of output, noted his client team receives no EF grant and no place in Protocol Guild. Cutting guaranteed funding, he said, would sharpen incentives and force accountability onto teams insulated from competition.
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