Ethereum Foundation executives interpret development priorities: technological upgrades, organizational changes, and diversified funding.

The joint executive director of the Ethereum Foundation recently accepted an interview and shared several key aspects of Ethereum's current development:

In terms of technological progress, The Merge successfully achieved the transition from Proof of Work (PoW) to Proof of Stake (PoS). This process has been described as "changing the engine mid-flight," showcasing Ethereum's exceptional ability to complete core architecture upgrades without interrupting operations. It is worth noting that the executive director emphasized that the biggest challenge of The Merge is not the technology itself, but rather the "integration of people"—that is, how to coordinate various developers, clients, and stakeholders.

In terms of organizational structure, the Ethereum Foundation is experiencing significant functional differentiation and specialization. The foundation has been reorganized into three major business groups, while specific functions are being separated into external organizations to focus on handling interactions with traditional finance and Wall Street. This division of labor reflects the gradual shift of the Ethereum ecosystem towards a decentralized governance model.

In terms of funding strategy, the foundation is no longer limited to simple ETH sales, but is actively exploring diversified management methods such as decentralized finance lending, staking, and asset tokenization, demonstrating a more mature financial thinking. The executive director pointed out that the foundation's sale of ETH is a last resort—there are two to three hundred employees in the foundation, and about 75% of the expenses need to be paid in fiat currency. This practical need explains why "selling coins" is necessary even during less favorable market periods.

It is worth pondering the candid attitude of the executive director towards the responsibilities of the foundation. She stated, "If an organization emerges in the community that can replace the role of the foundation, the foundation may shrink in size." This actually indicates that the foundation does not seek a permanent central position, but is willing to relinquish power at the appropriate time. This proactive thinking about its own boundaries and the concept of gradually fading out stands in stark contrast to the practices of other blockchain project founding teams that continuously expand their power boundaries.

In addition, regarding future application trends, the executive director specifically mentioned several noteworthy directions. She pointed out that identity verification, social design, and mini-program ecosystems are potential innovative directions that align with the current trend of Web3 technology gradually penetrating everyday applications.