Vitalik Buterin Allocates $43 Million for Ethereum Development

Ethereum Foundation enters "mild austerity," says co-founder Vitalik Buterin, contributing $43 million.

The Ethereum Foundation (EF) is entering a phase of “mild austerity,” according to Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of the leading altcoin network. To support this initiative, he has contributed 16,384 ETH (approximately $43 million at the current rate).

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

According to him, this is necessary to achieve two key objectives:

1. Implementing an aggressive development roadmap for Ethereum.
2. Ensuring the long-term sustainability of the non-profit organization itself.

EF will focus on maintaining the blockchain as a performant and scalable “world computer,” without sacrificing resilience and decentralization. Simultaneously, the foundation must ensure its own stability and protect Ethereum’s core mission.

Buterin will work on creating an open, secure, and verifiable full stack of software and hardware to protect privacy and the public environment.

“This includes applications such as finance, communications and governance, blockchains, operating systems, secure hardware, biotechnology (including both personal and public health), and much more,” he added.

All funds allocated by the programmer will be used to finance this work.

Buterin also shared that he is exploring options for secure decentralized staking. In the long term, rewards from coin locking will be directed towards the same goals.

“Ethereum for Those Who Need It”

The project’s co-founder emphasized that Ethereum is an integral part of his vision for “full openness and verifiability.”

EF will continue to focus on developing the network. The main priority will not be mass adoption, but the creation of basic infrastructure for self-sovereignty and cooperation without dominance.

“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,” Buterin explained.

The main goal of his work is to provide tools for autonomy and security as a basic right for everyone.

Back in January, the Ethereum co-founder announced that by 2026 he would fully transition to decentralized software.