One of the key pillars of Ethereum development comes from the Ethereum foundation. Ultimately, this non-profit provides resources that bolster Eth’s development.
Without this organization, Ethereum would not be the behemoth that it is today. That is why in this article, I will be providing a comprehensive overview of the Ethereum foundation. So without further ado, let’s jump right in.
What is the Ethereum foundation?
The Ethereum Foundation is a non-profit organization that supports the development of the Ethereum ecosystem. Located in Zug, Switzerland it aims to foster the development of the Ethereum protocol without seizing control.
After all, this would go against Ethereum’s ethos of being decentralized. Generally speaking, the Ethereum foundation aids the ecosystem by allocating capital and resources for projects, funding, and community outreach.
When was the Ethereum foundation founded and who created it?
The Ethereum foundation was created in 2014 by Vitalik Buterin and Gavin wood. To this day Vitalik has a huge influence on the foundation as he remains on the executive board.
Whereas Gavin Wood has moved on to other ventures such as the creation of the popular cryptocurrency Polkadot. Currently, the board of directors is composed of Vitalik Buterin, Patrick Storchenegger, and Aya Miyaguchi.
How does the Ethereum foundation support the ecosystem?
Ethereum supports the overall ecosystem through various initiatives. Firstly, it has an ecosystem support program. This initiative provides both financial and non-financial support to key projects in the Ethereum ecosystem.
In other words, they provide grants to companies, educators, DAOs, and developers in the ecosystem. For participants to be eligible they must go through a formal application process.
In 2021 alone they allocated over $25 million to 136 projects. The second initiative is Devcon. Simply put, it is an annual conference hosted by the foundation whereby developers and the community as a whole can interact and key developments are announced.
Lastly, there is the fellowship program that provides support to underrepresented groups. This is to ensure Ethereum reaches a wider demographic and supports all individuals regardless of their race, economic class, or nationality.
How is the Ethereum foundation funded?
The foundation was initially funded through an initial coin offering (ICO) back in 2014 allowing users to trade 2000 Ethereum for 1 Bitcoin. All in all, they raised over $18 million in less than 50 days.
Not to mention, the Ethereum foundation has raised over $18 million in funding over 8 rounds of investments. The latest was raised in May 2017. These rounds were funded by a total of 14 investors.
But overall, the foundation’s main source of funding comes from the Ethereum they were allocated when the token launched. In total, they were allocated over 6 million Ethereum back in 2015.
When you take into account the price appreciation over the years this has provided more than enough funding.
FAQ
How much of Ethereum is owned by the foundation?
All in all, the Ethereum foundation has a 1 billion dollar + treasury. This is composed of 0.297% of the total Ethereum supply or approximately 350,000 Ether. They also have hundreds of millions of dollars in non-crypto investments.
This ensures they can cope with crypto bear markets.
Is the Ethereum foundation decentralized?
The Ethereum foundation is not decentralized. It has a primary hub located in Switzerland with a board of directors. This makes it a centralized organization. That being said, the foundation does not interfere with the decentralized nature of the Ethereum protocol.
If you want to view this article in a more visual format then please check out my video below:
Conclusion
As you can see, the Ethereum foundation has been supporting the ecosystem for the better part of a decade. They fund key projects and developers to ensure that the protocol continues to flourish.
This is all done without obtaining control, therefore, maintaining Ethereum’s decentralized status. Hopefully, the foundation continue this support into the future as they are not only a key part of Ethereum’s success but also crypto as a whole.
I hope you found this article useful and thanks for reading it. Want to learn about Ethereum deflation? Click here to read my previous article.
