VItalik Buterin Defends Long-Term Vision Amid Token Price Concerns

TheNewsCryptoPublished on 2026-05-24Last updated on 2026-05-24

Abstract

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin defended the Ethereum Foundation's long-term vision amidst concerns over ETH's token price, which has fallen more than 50% from its all-time high. He stated the Foundation's core goals remain supporting decentralization, security, censorship-resistance, and long-range research, not competing on transaction throughput. Buterin emphasized the Foundation's minimal ETH holdings (around 0.16% of supply) compared to other projects and announced a focus on "longevity," prioritizing research over actions that could impact price. While the Foundation recently unstaked a significant amount of ETH, he clarified this does not mean the tokens will be sold. The comments address market worries following high-profile exits and sales by some investors, as well as criticism that post-Dencun upgrade tokenomics were not adequately considered.

Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, addressed the rising concerns leveled against the Ethereum Foundation, arguing that it should do more to promote and maintain token pricing.

According to Buterin, the Foundation will stick to its stated goals of supporting decentralization of the Ethereum Protocol, open source software code, cybersecurity, long-range research, and censorship-resistance.

Focus Remains on Decentralization, Security, and Research

It is not the goal of the Ethereum Foundation to compete with high-throughput chains or expand to 1 million transactions per second; rather, they want to improve Ethereum’s cybersecurity and code base. “Now, we are taking action to ensure that we will be the latter,” he stated.

With the current price of the cryptocurrency sitting at about $2,094, more than 50% below its all-time high of over $5,000 achieved in August 2025, and after high-profile exits from the Ethereum Foundation and the sale of all ETH holdings by some significant investors, the remarks are understandable. He said that other foundations often keep 10–50% of their native tokens, whereas the EF only holds around 0.16 percent of total ETH.

The cryptocurrency journalist Laura Shin said, “I think Ethereum’s original sin was not considering tokenomics with every move it made from Dencun on.”. Released in March 2024, the Dencun upgrade was a significant protocol change that caused Ethereum’s base layer revenue to collapse. It dramatically decreased network fees for layer-2 transactions.

On Sunday, Buterin said that the Ethereum Foundation will prioritize “longevity” and use its resources to support research, which would lead to a decrease in the sale of Ethereum tokens in the future. As indicated in its treasury plan, the Foundation unstaked 21,270 ETH in May from the Lido liquid staking platform. Although the Ethereum Foundation will no longer get any revenue from unstaked ETH, this does not indicate that the tokens will be sold.

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Related Questions

QWhat are the core long-term goals that Vitalik Buterin says the Ethereum Foundation will stick to, according to the article?

AAccording to the article, Vitalik Buterin stated that the Ethereum Foundation will stick to its goals of supporting decentralization of the Ethereum Protocol, open source software code, cybersecurity, long-range research, and censorship-resistance.

QWhat specific metric does Buterin use to contrast the Ethereum Foundation's token holdings with those of other foundations?

AButerin stated that other foundations often keep 10–50% of their native tokens, whereas the Ethereum Foundation holds only about 0.16 percent of the total ETH supply.

QWhat event does journalist Laura Shin refer to as Ethereum's 'original sin' regarding tokenomics, and what was its main consequence?

ALaura Shin refers to the Dencun upgrade, released in March 2024, as Ethereum's 'original sin' for not considering tokenomics. Its main consequence was that it dramatically decreased network fees for layer-2 transactions, causing Ethereum's base layer revenue to collapse.

QWhat recent action did the Ethereum Foundation take regarding its ETH holdings on the Lido platform, and what does Buterin clarify about the purpose of this action?

AThe Ethereum Foundation unstaked 21,270 ETH from the Lido liquid staking platform in May. Buterin clarified that while this means the Foundation will no longer get staking revenue from that ETH, it does not indicate that the tokens will be sold.

QWhat does Vitalik Buterin say the Ethereum Foundation will prioritize to ensure its future, and what will this lead to regarding token sales?

AButerin said the Ethereum Foundation will prioritize 'longevity' and use its resources to support research. He stated this would lead to a decrease in the sale of Ethereum tokens in the future.

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