RE: LeoThread 2026-02-24 21-20

Over the next five years, the Ethereum Foundation will enter a period of mild austerity to pursue two goals:

1. Deliver an aggressive roadmap that preserves Ethereum as a performant, scalable world computer without compromising robustness, sustainability and decentralization

1. Ensure the Foundation's long-term sustainability and protect Ethereum's core mission, including the core blockchain layer and users' ability to access and use the chain with self-sovereignty, security and privacy

As part of that austerity, a personal contribution will involve taking on responsibilities that might previously have been Foundation "special projects." Efforts will focus on creating an open-source, secure and verifiable full stack of software and hardware to protect both private lives and public environments. This covers applications like finance, communication and governance, blockchains, operating systems, secure hardware, and biotech (personal and public health)

Existing initiatives—such as work to make open silicon commercially viable for security-critical use, recent software releases with built-in ZK, FHE and differential-privacy features, air quality projects, donations to encrypted messaging apps, and support for privacy-preserving, walkaway-test-friendly and local-first software—illustrate the intended direction

For these reasons, 16,384 ETH have been withdrawn to be deployed toward these goals over the coming years. Exploration of secure decentralized staking options is also underway so that more capital from staking rewards can be directed to these efforts long-term

Ethereum is central to the "full-stack openness and verifiability" vision. The Foundation will continue focusing on developing Ethereum with that aim. "Ethereum everywhere" is appealing, but the priority is "Ethereum for people who need it" — not corporate slop, but self-sovereignty and the baseline infrastructure that enables cooperation without domination

In a world where many default to the mindset of racing to become a big bully to avoid being eaten first, this presents an alternative. Success will require more than technology, but the technical layer is something within control. The goal is tools that guarantee individual and community autonomy and safety as basic rights—truly open, secure and verifiable so users can trust their technology