Ethereum news

Crypto markets experienced a sharp selloff on June 24, liquidating over $600 million in leveraged long positions within hours, with Bitcoin and Ethereum hit hardest. Bitcoin dropped 4.07% and Ethereum 4.91%, while major altcoins like XRP, Solana, BNB, and Dogecoin also fell sharply, indicating broad risk-off pressure. The liquidation event was concentrated on centralized exchanges, with Binance leading at $350.58 million. Decentralized exchange Hyperliquid saw $147.24 million in liquidations. Bitcoin's selloff was driven by a break below $63,000, with overhead liquidation clusters between $61,500 and $63,000 now acting as resistance. A reclaim of $63,000 could reverse the bearish setup, while losing $59,700 support may trigger further declines.

The Ethereum Foundation announced a 40% budget cut and laid off about 20% of its workforce, coinciding with the launch of EthLabs, a new research organization backed by ecosystem stakeholders. While some interpret the cuts as signs of financial stress, prominent figures including Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko and Consensys CEO Joe Lubin view the restructuring as a positive shift toward a leaner, more decentralized network. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin previously described the foundation's future role as 'one node with a defined purpose' within a broader ecosystem, a vision supported by EthLabs' emergence.

The Ethereum Foundation has cut roughly 20% of its workforce and slashed its budget by about 40% as part of a broad reorganization, even as the Ethereum network sees record user activity and growing institutional adoption. The layoffs follow a months-long review of the nonprofit's structure and spending. Ethereum's native token, ETH, has fallen over 44% year-to-date to around $1,670, despite record monthly active users and transaction counts in Q1 2026. Network fee revenue and total value locked have declined, and spot Ether ETFs have seen nearly $1 billion in outflows over seven consecutive weeks. The Foundation is restructuring into five specialized clusters focused on protocol, access, user, community, and institutional layers. It plans to pay staff in ETH and native stablecoins, prioritize privacy and MEV reduction, and scale back initiatives like the multi-client model and Devcon conference. Co-founder Vitalik Buterin favors a 'soft lean-and-done' model for Ethereum's long-term development.

Ethereum faces a funding debate as former insiders warn of a 'slow-burning funding crisis' within 3–9 months. The Ethereum Foundation plans to cut spending by 40% and reduce its annual budget from 15% to 5% by 2030. A controversial proposal from Kleros co-founder Clément Lesaege suggested redirecting up to 10% of validator rewards to ecosystem funding via a protocol-level tax. Critics warned it could entrench large validators and create a dangerous precedent. In response, EthLabs, a new nonprofit R&D lab backed by large investors like BitMine and ConsenSys founder Joe Lubin, was unveiled. It offers a 'credibly neutral' funding model that avoids taxing staking rewards, potentially making the tax proposal obsolete.

Ethereum L2 bridge Taiko warned users to immediately withdraw funds from all bridges deployed on its network after a compromise of its chain state verification mechanism. The security notice stated that the security assumptions for all bridges on Taiko could no longer be relied upon, and centralized exchanges were asked to suspend TAIKO deposits. Security firm Blockaid identified the failure as source-signal proof validation, where crafted message proofs were accepted on Ethereum L1 without corresponding legitimate events on Taiko, allowing fraudulent withdrawals from the ERC20 vault. On-chain evidence shows 649,761 USDC was moved from the vault to an exploiter address. PeckShield initially estimated losses at about $1.7 million, later updated to roughly $2.2 million. Taiko said affected users' funds are expected to be reimbursed from the protocol treasury. The project has paused affected systems, disabled permissionless inbox proving, and is working to harden message-proof handling.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) is considering converting its continuous Bitcoin and Ether futures into perpetual futures, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The move follows the CFTC's approval of perpetual futures for Kalshi, creating a regulatory pathway for US exchanges. Perpetual futures, which have no expiration, have become dominant in crypto derivatives. CBOE's global head of derivatives indicated the exchange is exploring the conversion but did not provide a timeline. The CFTC's decision has also sparked a lawsuit from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, which argues it violates federal law.

The Ethereum Foundation is laying off 54 employees, roughly 20% of its staff, as part of a reorganization to become 'leaner and more focused.' The move follows a months-long overhaul based on the Foundation's March 'Mandate' document and a new treasury policy. Work will now be split into five core clusters—protocol, access, user, community, and institutional layers—plus operations and management. The layoffs come after a series of leadership exits, including the departure of co-director Hsiao-Wei Wang last week. Former co-director Tomasz Stanczak left in February, and researcher Dankrad Feist departed earlier to work on Stripe's stablecoin blockchain. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin acknowledged the loss but expressed confidence in the ecosystem's ability to adapt and thrive.

Ethereum Foundation will cut its budget by approximately 40% this year as part of a shift toward a leaner, endowment-style model, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin announced Tuesday. The reduction coincides with a 20% headcount reduction and the resignation of co-Executive Director Hsiao-Wei Wang, bringing senior departures since January to nine. Buterin outlined plans to reduce annual treasury spending from about 15% currently to roughly 5% by 2030. Changes include winding down the Privacy and Scaling Explorations unit, reducing Devcon costs, narrowing institutional strategy, and focusing on specialized client teams with AI-assisted verification. Buterin emphasized preserving funding for Ethereum's 'third iteration' roadmap while making 'difficult decisions' that involve losing experienced engineers.

The Ethereum Foundation has completed a reorganization, cutting 54 staff (20% of its workforce) and adopting a five-cluster operational structure. Departing employees receive severance and transition support, and many are expected to continue contributing to the ecosystem externally. The new structure includes clusters for protocol, access, user, community, institutional, operations, and management. The protocol cluster focuses on hardening and scaling Ethereum, while other clusters address interoperability, user needs, community differentiation, and institutional engagement. The restructuring concludes an 18-month process marked by leadership changes, including the departure of co-executive directors and several senior researchers. Some former staff have launched Ethlabs, a nonprofit supporting Ethereum's institutional adoption.

The Ethereum Foundation is cutting roughly 20% of its workforce, eliminating 54 positions as part of a broad restructuring amid senior leadership turnover. The layoffs conclude a months-long internal reorganization tied to an updated mandate and treasury strategy, leaving the EF 'leaner and more focused.' The cuts follow a period of upheaval at the leadership level, with co-executive director Hsiao-Wei Wang stepping down this month after the prior departure of co-executive director Tomasz Stańczak. About nine senior figures have left in the past six months, raising questions about governance. While the EF shrinks, a separate initiative called ETHLabs, backed by major Ethereum treasury companies and co-founder Joseph Lubin, is expanding to accelerate Ethereum's development and institutional adoption.