Trent Van Epps Warns Ethereum Foundation Pullback Could Create $30 Million Funding Gap

Former Ethereum Foundation staffer Trent Van Epps warned that the Ethereum Foundation’s pullback could create a structural funding gap for core Ethereum development.

“Former Ethereum Foundation leader warns of funding gap as governance shifts A former Ethereum Foundation member says the network must quickly build new funding institutions as the Foundation steps back”

@coindesk

Van Epps told CoinDesk on June 26 that core protocol development requires about $30 million a year while the foundation’s funds continue to shrink.

@coindesk

He said the foundation is intentionally reducing its central role rather than expanding its authority, and that new funding institutions need to be built quickly.

Benzinga also framed Van Epps’s warning as a critical funding gap that could arrive within 3 to 9 months.

Benzinga added that Van Epps said the Foundation’s treasury has funded shared resources like client development and the move from proof of work to proof of stake, but that the treasury is shrinking by design.

Van Epps described Ethereum’s long-term decentralization strategy as entering a critical transition phase, with governance moving toward a more decentralized structure over the next decade.

He said the foundation would take on only a limited role and that new institutions focused on research, commercialization and ecosystem expansion are expected to emerge.

Benzinga

Benzinga reported that Van Epps argued the problem is not a lack of need but that as the Foundation steps back, no clear institution has stepped up to fill the gap.

Benzinga also said Van Epps pointed to a “free-rider problem” as the core obstacle to fixing it, where coordination among large stakeholders is genuinely hard even when most understand what’s at stake.

In the same discussion, Van Epps said Protocol Guild distributed nearly $40 million over four years but that it is not sufficient on its own to replace broader ecosystem funding.

While Van Epps warned about funding, CoinDesk reported a crypto rebound in which Bitcoin found some footing around $60,000 on Friday after this week’s selloff.

“Former Ethereum Foundation Staffer Warns Reduced Role Could Leave Core Development Funding Gap Former Ethereum Foundation staffer Trent Van Epps, who handled funding support for core Ethereum development, warned that the foundation’s pullback could create a structural funding gap for key development work”

bloomingbit

CoinDesk said the biggest gains came from decentralized finance and the Solana ecosystem, with Aave’s native token AAVE jumping 19% over the past 24 hours.

CoinDesk also reported that Solana (SOL) climbed nearly 10% on Friday and that trading activity around tokenized stocks topped $2.5 billion in volume through this week.

CoinDesk added that Aave founder Stani Kulechov pushed back in an X post against the suggestion that Aave assets could be sold at a steep discount.

Benzinga, meanwhile, tied its coverage to ETH’s price action, saying ETH broke a rising trendline that had held since February and fell through $1,900, then $1,800, into the $1,557 level.