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Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said he has earmarked 16,384 Ether (ETH), about $45 million, to fund privacy-focused and open-source technology work.
In a post on X, Buterin said he withdrew the ETH from his personal holdings and will deploy it over several years. He linked the move to what he called a period of “mild austerity” at the Ethereum Foundation, while it maintains its core technical roadmap.
Buterin said the funding will support privacy-preserving technologies, open hardware, and secure, verifiable software systems. He framed the goal as building an open-source “full stack” that can protect personal life and public environments.
He also said he will take on responsibilities that the Ethereum Foundation might have handled as special projects. The post positioned the work as complementary to Ethereum’s role as a decentralized base layer.
Buterin did not publish a detailed allocation plan across projects. Instead, the statement described broad priorities, including privacy tools, open infrastructure, and self-sovereign systems.
Buterin described the Ethereum Foundation as entering “mild austerity” while continuing an aggressive technical roadmap. He said the foundation will keep its central focus on the core blockchain layer.
The comments arrived after earlier criticism of the foundation’s practice of selling ETH to fund activities. However, the foundation has signaled openness to alternative funding approaches.
Those alternatives include decentralized finance (DeFi) lending and staking options. The statement did not specify whether the foundation itself will use those tools, but it noted increased openness to them.
Buterin said he plans to deploy the 16,384 ETH gradually over the coming years rather than spend it immediately. Meanwhile, he said he may add to the pool through decentralized staking strategies that generate staking rewards.
In his post, he referenced prior support for efforts tied to open silicon, privacy-preserving software, and secure hardware. The statement also cited work involving encrypted communications and local-first systems.
Further details tied to the announcement described “full-stack openness and verifiability” across several domains. The scope included finance, communications, governance systems, operating systems, blockchain infrastructure, and secure hardware.
The report also mentioned support for initiatives focused on open silicon and privacy platforms. It cited techniques such as zero-knowledge proofs and fully homomorphic encryption, but it did not provide project-level funding amounts.
ETH’s recent price trend provided context around the timing. CoinGecko data cited in the text placed ETH near $3,900 in November 2025 and slightly above $2,700 at the time of writing. That reflects a decline of about 30% in roughly three months.
However, Vitalik Buterin did not attribute the Ethereum Foundation’s “mild austerity” posture to ETH’s price moves. He framed the shift as a strategic decision about long-term priorities and resource allocation.
Looking ahead, the plan calls for multi-year deployment rather than immediate spending. In addition, Buterin said staking rewards could supplement the funding pool, which could affect the pace and scale of supported work while the Ethereum Foundation keeps its focus on Ethereum’s core development.
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