The Ethereum Foundation’s decision to promote Ethereum’s DeFi ecosystem comes after months of accusations that it does not care enough about the space.
The Ethereum Foundation announced that it will give 50,000 Ether, worth approximately $165 million, to assist Ethereum’s decentralized finance ecosystem.
On Jan. 20, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin announced on X that the nonprofit foundation would make organizational changes to better help app developers and bring more transparency to the community.
We are indeed currently in the process of large changes to EF leadership structure, which has been ongoing for close to a year. Some of this has already been executed on and made public, and some is still in progress.
What we're trying to achieve is primarily the following…
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) January 18, 2025
The assets will be safeguarded in a three-of-five multisig wallet on Safe, which has already completed a test transaction using the lending protocol Aave, according to the Ethereum Foundation’s Hsiao-Wei Wang in a Jan. 20 X post.
However, Wang stated that it may take a few days to set up the wallet.
Reaping the benefits of the Ethereum network’s DeFi ecosystem might boost the foundation’s treasury, which has plunged 56% from 617,000 Ether ETH $3,254.38 in January 2020 to 269,000 Ether — worth around $894 million, according to Arkham Intelligence data shows.
The pledged 50,000 Ether accounts for 18.5% of the Ethereum Foundation’s total holdings.
Ethereum Foundation Treasury Update
The Ethereum Foundation (@ethereumfndn) has set up a new @safe 3-of-5 multisig wallet.
The wallet address is 0x9fC3dc011b461664c835F2527fffb1169b3C213e
An op has been initiated to send 50,000 ETH there, but be patient; due to signing delays,… pic.twitter.com/sIkAlH8ROf
— hww.eth (@icebearhww) January 20, 2025
Infinix founder Kain Warwick has been a prominent critic of the foundation, accusing it of a lack of interest in DeFi — while others have been dissatisfied with the foundation’s Ether sale pressure to finance wages and activities.
Prior to Wang’s announcement, Ethereum core developer Eric Conner stated that the foundation’s staking incentives might fund the majority, if not all, of its internal budget, alleviating some of the selling pressure that has agitated the community.
Some in the Ethereum community have attributed Ether’s poor price performance to the foundation’s perceived lack of engagement and leadership. However, advocates for Bitcoin (BTC) and Solana (SOL) have actively engaged with regulators in recent months. However, Buterin emphasized that the nonprofit is not planning an “ideological” pivot or beginning lobbying regulators in order to seem neutral.
I’m with Vitalik on this one, even though I think $ETH might underperform. He just chose creating value over making money.
This industry is on the verge of crossing the line into a grifter’s playground under brutal capitalism. Keeping our sanity here is extremely challenging.… https://t.co/VfbnW6UZ9F
— Ki Young Ju (@ki_young_ju) January 19, 2025
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