Ethereum Core Developer: Ethereum Enters Institutional Inheritance Phase, May Face Capital Reallocation Challenges

Odaily Planet Daily News Former Ethereum Foundation member and Ethereum core developer Trent Van Epps published a long article analyzing the evolution of Ethereum's institutional structure, exploring its future political and economic path and the issue of "institutional inheritance." He pointed out that Ethereum is currently entering a critical institutional turning point, including the distribution of legitimacy, the evolution of governance structures, and a potential protocol funding crisis.

The Ethereum Foundation has long pursued a philosophy of "subtraction," i.e., reducing its own centralized influence within the ecosystem so that more value is generated externally. However, while this strategy reduces the concentration of power, it also brings the problem of "unclear boundaries of legitimacy," making it difficult for the ecosystem to naturally generate alternative institutional centers.

On the funding front, Ethereum is approaching a potential "structural funding gap." This includes the end of the Core Incentive Protocol (CIP) in 2026 and the contraction cycle after the depletion of the Foundation's ETH reserves, which could lead to long-term pressure with core development funding potentially dropping to around $30 million. Without a sustainable funding mechanism, core development teams and infrastructure capabilities may face the risk of attrition, thereby affecting the long-term reliability of the network and potentially creating an "unfunded protocol burden."

After fulfilling its early historical mission, the role of the Ethereum Foundation is shifting from a "single dominant institution" to an "institutional transition node." The key issue for the next phase of the ecosystem will be how to achieve a smooth inheritance from existing institutions to new governance structures.