Vitalik Buterin Reveals Salary Amid Scrutiny of Ethereum Foundation Finances

• Ethereum Foundation’s 2023 budget: 36.5% on new institutions, 24.9% on Layer-1 RD, prioritizing long-term ecosystem growth.
• Vitalik Buterin’s 2023 salary $139,000, while 90% of his net worth remains in ETH, highlighting transparency and commitment.
• 6.2% budget increase for new institutions in 2023, reflecting Ethereum Foundation’s focus on future infrastructure and ecosystem support.

Vitalik Buterin has explained the Ethereum Foundation’s monetary expenses for 2023. The report has increased community curiosity regarding what the foundation spends, especially on areas that highly impact the ecosystem. Buterin also revealed that his annual salary is SGD 182,000 (approximately $134,000).

Major Expense Categories

Among the most emphasized categories in the 2023 budget were the New Institutions under focus by the Ethereum Foundation. The three major categories had 36.5% of the total expenditure in the New Institutions category. This spending category would foster new organizations aligned with the Ethereum long-term vision, including the Nomic Foundation, Decentralized Research Center, and 0xPARC Foundation.

The higher percentage of this category now stands at 26.2%, compared to 23.8% in 2022, which indicates that the firm is willing to build infrastructure and institutions that will help drive the Ethereum community into the future.

Layer-1 (L1) RD is the next largest cost, accounting for 24.9% of the budget. This area remains important for keeping the Ethereum mainnet healthy and upgraded. It includes internal projects of the Foundation and grants to teams working on critical parts of the ecosystem, such as those supporting the Go-Ethereum client (Geth), Solidity research, and the Robust Incentives Group on the ETH stack. The allocation also helps fund Devcon and other major upgrades for Ethereum’s mainnet, including the recently targeted Dencun upgrade.

Response to Criticism and Community Engagement

Kain Warwick, an accomplished developer within the DeFi ecosystem, has repeatedly criticized the Foundation for failing to commit enough resources to support the Defi ecosystem. Warwick said that only a tiny amount of the EF budget goes to developing decentralized finance projects—everything else is squandered on initiatives having much less impact.

In response, Vitalik Buterin defended the Foundation’s approach, saying it remained focused on long-term and sustainable projects rather than quick investments or speculative token schemes. He reiterated his affinity toward decentralized platforms but clearly stated that the foundation’s priorities remained the construction of a strong and persistent ecosystem.

The Ethereum Foundation also responded to other criticisms and continued community development in Argentina by organizing two educational workshops for high school students on using blockchain with ETH Kipu in Buenos Aires. The foundation also announced several new initiatives, such as blockchain internships and an online course on Solidity, among others, to educate and further involve new generations of developers.

Buterin’s disclosure coincides with the release of preliminary data on the foundation’s spending priorities for 2023. The full report is expected to be published ahead of Devcon SEA, a major Ethereum event scheduled for November in Bangkok, Thailand. This report will likely provide further insights into the foundation’s financial strategies and its ongoing efforts to support the Ethereum ecosystem.