Vitalik Buterin earmarks $45M in ETH for privacy and open tech

The move comes as the Ethereum Foundation enters a period of “mild austerity” while sticking to its core technical roadmap, Buterin said.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said he has earmarked 16,384 Ether, worth about $45 million, to support privacy-preserving technologies, open hardware and secure, verifiable software systems. 

In a post on X, Buterin said the funds were withdrawn from his personal holdings and will be deployed over the next few years. He framed the move as part of a broader shift as the Ethereum Foundation enters what he called a period of “mild austerity,” while continuing to pursue an aggressive technical roadmap.

Buterin said he is also taking on responsibilities that might otherwise have been handled as special projects of the foundation. “Specifically, we are seeking the existence of an open-source, secure and verifiable full stack of software and hardware that can protect both our personal lives and our public environments,” he wrote. 

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