The Ethereum Foundation (EF) has been put in hot water this week amidst criticism over a lack of transparency in their treasury management. This follows a detected onchain transfer of 35,000 ETH, approximately $94 million, from the EF’s treasury to Kraken on Saturday.
Aya Miyaguchi, the EF Executive Director, insisted that this transfer doesn’t necessarily imply a sale and is part and parcel of standard “treasury management” maneuvers. Miyaguchi justified the lack of an announcement prior to the transfer citing “regulatory complications” but promised “planned and gradual sales” going forward.
Josh Stark from EF recently gave a preliminary breakdown of EF’s last two years of expenditure. Full details, however, are anticipated to be made available before the Ethereum conference (Devcon) in 2024. Internal spending on EF-related teams represented 25-30% of the annual budget, with the second largest spending segment being the funding of external entities like L2Beat, the 0xPARC Foundation and others, with a mission to bolster the Ethereum ecosystem.
The split between internal and external spending was roughly 38% and 62% respectively, which equates to about $62 million being allocated for external grants, considering the EF’s annual budget of around $100 million. At the current rate and prices of ETH, EF’s treasury (273,274 ETH / $687.5 million) is projected to sustain 6-7 years. The EF’s Q1 2024 report shows that $11.4 million was offered to 109 various developers, research, events, and community projects through the Ecosystem Support Program.
Lastly, amid this discussion, the EF’s pay structure also surfaced with Vitalik Buterin, an EF member, mentioning that he earns roughly $139,600 per annum. In comparison, multiple blockchain ecosystems such as Arbitrum DAO, Cosmos’ Interchain Foundation and Polkadot have been open about their spending patterns. However, Solana Foundation and Aptos Foundation are yet to disclose their annual expenditure.