The Ethereum Foundation's reforms have begun; can they help the price of ETH return to its peak?

The future of Ethereum, with the foundation as the "helmsman."

Written by: Pzai, Foresight News

On July 10, the Ethereum Foundation released "The Future of Ecosystem Development," initiating a series of profound structural reforms aimed at addressing the long-standing challenges in project support, ecosystem operations, and fund management.

In the new vision statement, the Ethereum Foundation outlines two primary overall goals: first, to maximize the number of people who directly or indirectly use Ethereum and benefit from its underlying values; second, to maximize the resilience of Ethereum's technology and social infrastructure. The core of this structural reform lies in redefining the Foundation's role in the Ethereum ecosystem, enhancing the ecosystem's scalability, resilience, and degree of decentralization by introducing four strategic pillars (Accelerate, Amplify, Support, and Long-term Unblock), establishing a new governance framework, and reforming its funding management strategies.

New Ecodev Organizational Structure Chart

Ecological Acceleration

Previously, some users and developers criticized the Ethereum Foundation for its long-term governance philosophy of "laissez-faire" which has led to a series of ecological splits and a loss of narrative unity. As more and more companies are competing to establish crypto reserves, the territorial expansion in reserve strategies has also become a key factor in ecological development. In terms of ecological acceleration, the Ethereum Foundation has newly established support modules for segmented directions, including:

• Corporate Relations: Providing support for enterprises that wish to adopt Ethereum, the team will focus on serving verticals such as finance and supply chain, promoting the on-chain tokenization of real-world assets (RWA) like real estate and bonds.
• Developer Growth: Attracting and supporting the next generation of Ethereum ecosystem developers. This module is led by Gitcoin Research Director Austin Griffith.
• Application Support: Accelerate the development of user-focused meaningful applications.
• Founder Support: Non-financial project-related support, this module is managed by Adrian Li, the former Frontend Technical Director at Consensys.

The previous ecological acceleration has expanded to include work in publicity and ecosystem development, including:

• Digital Studio (ethereum.org team): Ethereum narrative engine, creating narrative-rich content, videos, publications, and unique visualizations to showcase the potential of Ethereum.
• Strategic Activities: Design and execute targeted activities.
• Ubiquitous Ethereum: A team focused on building local communities and centers that support application developers.
• EcoDev Automation: Enhance internal operations through automation and AI-driven tools, enabling teams to achieve their goals more effectively.

Ecological Support

For a long time, the Ethereum Foundation has been criticized for a lack of transparency, such as in the Ecosystem Support Program (ESP), where the Foundation previously only disclosed the names of funded projects but did not publish specific funding amounts or follow-up updates on project progress. Moreover, when early Ethereum developer @econoar left, he also criticized the Foundation for its "cumbersome processes," "time-consuming efforts," and the "disconnection between leadership and the broader community." Following this, the Foundation plans to reduce the proportion of future operational expenditures from 15% to 5% by 2025, gradually aligning with the standards of donation-based organizations, and will deploy on-chain assets to ensure long-term financial buffers (with a goal of maintaining a 2.5-year operational cash reserve).

In the new structural reform, the foundation's new ESP/funding support program emphasizes more targeted applications and non-financial support, and jointly funds important public goods organizations through strategic funding programs, benefiting the broader Ethereum ecosystem. Additionally, in the new support framework, Launchpad will assist organizations in addressing operational design, sustainable funding, governance, and other challenges. Support from Launchpad can come from the foundation, grantees, or derivative products of other ecosystem organizations (similar to Protocol Guild).

In the future, the Ethereum Foundation will also participate in global cryptocurrency policy coordination, monitor global issues related to the Ethereum ecosystem, and collaborate with policy organizations around the world to establish ongoing relationships with governments and non-governmental organizations. Additionally, as a practice venue for blockchain academia, the academic secretariat will actively promote cooperation between Ethereum and universities, professors, and students to advance blockchain technology.

Conclusion

On July 11, Ethereum officially broke through $3000. During the rise in coin prices, ecological development is also gradually advancing. From this structural transformation, the core goal of the Ethereum Foundation's transition is to expand the user base and enhance infrastructure resilience. It means that the Foundation will more actively coordinate resources, guide narratives, bridge community differences, and promote the scaling of Ethereum in key application areas while maintaining its core values. As the advantages of public chains are gradually being caught up, the Foundation aims to explore and shape the next growth engine for the Ethereum ecosystem through systematic support and strategic guidance.