Quick reading of the Ethereum Foundation report: $240 million spent in two years, with nearly 30% on L1 development

ZkProver · 2026-01-31T21:25:07+00:00

The Ethereum Foundation released a report summarizing core values, expenditures, and treasury status. In 2023, expenditures reached $134.9 million, mainly used for new institutions and L1 development. The total treasury amount is approximately $970.2 million, with 99.45% in ETH. The ecosystem treasury's total value is $22.2 billion, with $49.7 million spent to support project development.

ZkProver

2026-01-31 21:25:07

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Original source: Ethereum Foundation

Compiled and organized by: Karen, Foresight News

Previously, the spending of the Ethereum Foundation had raised widespread concerns within the community, with members calling for greater transparency. Today, the Ethereum Foundation officially released a report providing a comprehensive and detailed overview of the foundation’s core values, expenditure details, treasury status, and the overall state of the ecosystem. Foresight News has distilled and organized this information.

TL;DR

The three core values of the Ethereum Foundation: Long-term thinking, Self-limitation (Subtraction), and Value preservation;
The Ethereum Foundation spent a total of $105.4 million in 2022, with the most spent on L1 R&D, accounting for 30.4% ($32.1 million), followed by new organizations or entities (27.1%, $28.6 million);
In 2023, the Ethereum Foundation spent a total of $134.9 million, nearly 28% more than in 2022, with expenditures on new organizations or entities reaching $47.4 million (35.2%), and L1 R&D accounting for 25.7%;
As of October 31, 2024, the Ethereum Foundation’s total treasury is approximately $970.2 million, including $788.7 million in cryptocurrency assets and $181.5 million in non-cryptocurrency investments and assets;
Among the cryptocurrency assets held by the Ethereum Foundation, 99.45% is ETH, which accounts for 0.26% of the total ETH supply as of October 31, 2024;
The total value of project treasuries within the Ethereum ecosystem reaches $22.2 billion. From 2022 to 2023, the Ethereum ecosystem deployed a total of $497 million to support projects across the community.

The Ethereum Foundation’s three core values

The Ethereum Foundation (EF) consists of multiple independent teams. The Ethereum Foundation believes that small autonomous teams are the most efficient structure. New teams typically spin off from existing teams and grow organically to meet new demands within the ecosystem. The EF teams contribute to many areas of the Ethereum ecosystem. Some teams focus on software development or exploring frontier areas of the Ethereum roadmap; others help develop the global developer and user ecosystem; while others are responsible for promoting Ethereum’s utility and potential worldwide and conducting related education.

The three core values of the Ethereum Foundation are: Long-term thinking, Self-limitation (Subtraction), and Value preservation.

Long-term thinking: The Ethereum Foundation believes that the ecosystem sometimes focuses too much on very short-term goals and cycles. The EF should serve as a counterbalance to this trend: transcending market fluctuations and focusing on the long-term vision.

Self-limitation: Not pursuing power or prestige, but measuring success by the achievements of the Ethereum ecosystem itself, not by the Ethereum Foundation.

Value preservation: Ethereum is not just a technology but also a community united by shared values.

Ethereum Foundation activities and expenditures

Over the past two years, the Ethereum Foundation has been dedicated to cultivating and supporting many new organizations that are driving the Ethereum ecosystem forward, such as Argot Collective (comprising 25 former EF team members, focusing on core infrastructure development), Geodework (building community and educational infrastructure), L2BEAT (providing analysis, research, and tools related to Ethereum L2 projects), Nomic Foundation (offering open-source engineering software), and 0xPARC (accelerating the development and deployment of programmable cryptography).

In 2022, the Ethereum Foundation spent a total of $105.4 million, with the highest expenditure on L1 R&D, accounting for 30.4% ($32.1 million). The second-largest was new organizations or entities (27.1%, $28.6 million), followed by community development (18.5%), internal operations (supporting all EF teams, 8.1%), developer platforms (7.9%), Applied ZK (7.2%), and L2 R&D (0.8%). Among the expenditures for new organizations or entities, grants were provided to organizations such as Nomic Foundation, 0xPARC, and L2BEAT.

In 2023, the Ethereum Foundation spent a total of $134.9 million, nearly 28% more than in 2022, with a significant increase in expenditures on new organizations or entities, which reached $47.4 million (35.2%). The share of L1 R&D decreased to 25.7%, but the expenditure amount remained slightly higher than in 2022. Other categories include community development (12.5%), Applied ZK (11.0%), internal operations (7.7%), developer platforms (6.5%), and L2 R&D (1.4%).

Ethereum Foundation treasury

As of October 31, 2024, the Ethereum Foundation’s total treasury is approximately $970.2 million, including $788.7 million in cryptocurrency assets and $181.5 million in non-cryptocurrency investments and assets.

The majority (99.45%) of the cryptocurrency assets held by the Ethereum Foundation are ETH, which accounts for 0.26% of the total ETH supply as of October 31, 2024.

The Ethereum Foundation states, “The reason for holding most of the treasury assets in ETH is because we believe in Ethereum’s potential. At the same time, the goal of the Foundation’s treasury is to fund important public goods for the Ethereum ecosystem over the coming years. To achieve this, we must follow prudent treasury management policies, ensuring that even during prolonged market downturns, we have sufficient resources. This requires us to periodically sell ETH to maintain enough reserves for the future, and to systematically increase our fiat currency reserves during bull markets to fund expenditures during bear markets.”

Ethereum ecosystem treasury

The chart below shows the total value of project treasuries within the Ethereum ecosystem, reaching $22.2 billion, including liquid funds available for projects and unspent funds. Most project treasuries are primarily composed of the project’s native tokens. These treasury funds will support the development and maintenance of the Ethereum ecosystem.

From 2022 to 2023, the Ethereum ecosystem deployed a total of $497 million to support community projects.

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