以太坊核心开发者：以太坊进入机构继承期，或面临资金再分配挑战

Odaily Planet Daily News: Former Ethereum Foundation member and Ethereum core developer Trent Van Epps published a lengthy analysis on the evolution of Ethereum's institutional structure, exploring its future political and economic pathways and the issue of "institutional inheritance." He pointed out that Ethereum is currently entering a critical phase of institutional transition, encompassing the distribution of legitimacy, the evolution of governance structures, and a potential protocol funding crisis.

The Ethereum Foundation has long adhered to a philosophy of "subtraction," aimed at reducing its own centralizing influence within the ecosystem to allow more value to accrue in the external ecosystem. However, while this strategy has reduced the concentration of power, it has also created the problem of "unclear boundaries of legitimacy," making it difficult for the ecosystem to naturally generate alternative institutional centers.

In terms of funding, Ethereum is approaching a potential "structural funding gap." This includes the conclusion of the Core Incentive Protocol (CIP) in 2026 and a contraction phase following the depletion of the Foundation's ETH reserves. This could lead to a long-term pressure point where core development funding drops to around $30 million. Without sustained funding mechanisms, there is a risk of losing core development teams and infrastructure capabilities, which could affect the network's long-term reliability and potentially form an "unfunded protocol burden."

Having fulfilled its early historical mission, the Ethereum Foundation's role is transitioning from a "single dominant institution" to an "institutional transition node." The key question for the next phase of the ecosystem will be how to achieve a smooth inheritance from the existing institution to a new governance structure.