Former Ethereum Foundation official warns of funding gap amid governance shift

Trent Van Epps, who previously handled core development funding at the Ethereum Foundation, has warned of a potential structural funding gap as the foundation reduces its role. In an interview with CoinDesk, he stated that Ethereum's long-term decentralization strategy is entering a critical transition period. Van Epps explained that the Ethereum Foundation is intentionally shrinking its central role rather than consolidating power, which necessitates the rapid establishment of new funding institutions for the network. He noted that while core protocol development requires about $30 million annually, the foundation's funding continues to decrease. The key issue, he argued, is not a decline in technical demand but determining who will consistently fund public-good development to maintain network stability and security. Van Epps anticipates that Ethereum's governance will evolve into a more decentralized structure over the next decade, with the foundation adopting a narrower role while new institutions emerge to handle research, commercialization, and ecosystem expansion. Despite these challenges, he remains positive about Ethereum's long-term prospects, emphasizing its leading position in DeFi, stablecoin payments, and the EVM ecosystem, whose network effects are difficult for competitors to replicate.