The Ethereum Foundation just dropped its long-awaited financial report, revealing a treasury at $970.2 million as of October 31—a 39% drop from the $1.6 billion reported in March 2022. Over the past 18 months, the foundation spent around $240 million, while ether (ETH), which makes up the bulk of its holdings, has slid 22% since the last snapshot. Currently, 81.3% of the foundation’s treasury—about $788.7 million—is held in crypto, with almost all of it (99.45%) in ETH. The remaining $181.5 million is split across non-crypto investments.
The foundation explained its strategy: “We choose to hold the majority of our treasury in ETH. The EF believes in Ethereum’s potential, and our ETH holdings represent that long-term perspective.” Their goal is to secure resources for supporting Ethereum’s ecosystem well into the future, with a conservative treasury management approach designed to weather even extended market downturns.
Since the last snapshot in March 2022, when ETH traded around $3,300, its price has dropped 22% to about $2,600, based on CoinMarketCap data. The Ethereum Foundation reported spending $105.4 million in 2022 and $134.9 million over the past year, aligning with foundation researcher Justin Drake’s comments during a Reddit AMA in September. Drake mentioned that the foundation allocates around $100 million annually, holding $650 million in its main wallet, and has about a decade’s runway ahead.
The foundation also shared a fresh conflict of interest policy: team members now need to disclose any plans for outside work or investments. If outside work brings in over $25,000 annually or involves investments, it will undergo review by a dedicated discussion group.
The Ethereum Foundation is tightening its conflict-of-interest policy, barring team members from taking outside work that involves payment in illiquid assets, like advisorship token packages on pre-launch projects.
This update follows the recent decision by top Ethereum researchers Justin Drake and Dankrad Feist to step down from their advisory roles at EigenLayer, a major Ethereum restaking platform. Their roles at the Eigen Foundation came with a substantial token payout, raising concerns about potential conflicts when they announced their positions back in May.
