EF EPIC REORGANIZATION: 20% CUT-OFF, HALF CUT-OFF BUDGET, AND THE ETHER HOUSE WILL BE LIGHT-LOADED

Original Odaily Daily@OdailyChinaI'm not sure

By Azuma@azuma ethI'm not sure

THE ETHER WORKSHOP FOUNDATION (EF) HAS SEEN THE LARGEST RESTRUCTURING IN RECENT YEARS。

ON THE EVENING OF 23 JUNE, EF OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCED A COMPREHENSIVE RESTRUCTURING OF ITS INTERNAL STRUCTURE, WHICH WOULD BE DIVIDED INTO MULTIPLE FUNCTIONAL CLUSTERS, SUCH AS THE PROTOCOL LAYER, THE ACCESS LAYER, THE USER LAYER, THE COMMUNITY LAYER AND THE INSTITUTIONAL LAYER。At the same time, the Foundation ' s overall staff was reduced by about 20 per cent and approximately 54 staff separated。

At the same time, Vitalik Buterin, a co-founder of the Taifeng, also revealed more detailed ideas for reform on X:EF WILL GRADUALLY REDUCE THE SIZE OF ITS EXPENDITURES IN THE COMING YEARS, WITH A BUDGET CUT OF ABOUT 40 PER CENT COMPARED TO THE PREVIOUS ONES, AND PLANS TO GRADUALLY REDUCE ITS ANNUAL EXPENDITURE RATE FROM ABOUT 15 PER CENT IN THE PAST TO ABOUT 5 PER CENT AFTER 2030, WITH A SHIFT TOWARDS THE OPERATING MODEL DRIVEN BY THE ENDOWMENT FUND。

Clearly, this is a major organizational innovation of an unconventional nature。This reform is more like a long overdue rectification when seen in the context of the controversy and challenges faced by Taifeng over the past year。

FROM A LONG PERIOD OF LOW CURRENCY PRICES TO A DEBATE OVER THE SUCCESS OR FAILURE OF THE EXPANSION ROUTE; FROM CONTINUED COMMUNITY DOUBTS ABOUT THE FUND'S EFFECTIVENESS TO SUCCESSIVE DEPARTURES OF CORE MEMBERS ... OVER THE PAST YEAR, THE WAVE OF CRITICISM SURROUNDING EF HAS ALMOST NEVER STOPPED. THIS TIME, EF LAYOFFS, RESTRUCTURINGS AND BUDGET ADJUSTMENTS ARE SEEN BY MANY AS THE FIRST SYSTEMATIC RESPONSE OF EF TO THESE ISSUES。

WHY IS IT THAT THE EF IS ALWAYS CONTROVERSIAL

OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS, EVERY MOVE BY THE EF, THE MOST INFLUENTIAL SUBJECT OF THE ETHERAN ECOLOGY, HAS BEEN ACCOMPANIED BY CONTROVERSY。

SOME HAVE CRITICIZED THE FOUNDATION'S LONG-TERM SALE OF ETH TO CURB COMMUNITY CONFIDENCE; SOME HAVE QUESTIONED THE EF'S OVEREMPHASIS ON PUBLIC GOODS AND LONG-TERM RESEARCH, NEGLECTING MARKET COMPETITION AND ECOLOGICAL GROWTH; AND OTHERS HAVE ARGUED THAT, IN THE FACE OF GROWING INDUSTRIAL COMPETITION, EF HAS ALWAYS LACKED A SUFFICIENTLY CLEAR STRATEGIC EXPRESSION AND ENFORCEMENT CAPACITY ... WHENEVER THE MARKET IS DISSATISFIED WITH THE ETHERA, EF IS OFTEN THE MOST DIRECT OBJECT OF CRITICISM。

THESE DISPUTES SEEM TO BE DIFFERENT, BUT BEHIND THEM ARE THE SAME REALITY -- THE EF HAS BEEN PLAYING A VERY SPECIAL ROLE FOR OVER A DECADE. IT IS BOTH AN IMPORTANT FACILITATOR OF RESEARCH ON AGREEMENTS AND A FUNDER OF ECOLOGICAL CONSTRUCTION; IT IS BOTH RESPONSIBLE FOR COORDINATING THE INTERESTS OF THE VARIOUS PARTIES AND, TO A LARGE EXTENT, REPRESENTS THE PERCEPTION OF THE ETA。

SUCH ROLE POSITIONING PLAYED AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE EARLY YEARS OF ETA DEVELOPMENT, BUT MARKET EXPECTATIONS FOR EFS CHANGED DRAMATICALLY AS THE ETA EVOLVED INTO A GLOBAL NETWORK OF LARGE DEVELOPERS, HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN ASSET SIZE, AND MANY INSTITUTIONAL PLAYERS。

WHAT ROLE SHOULD EF PLAY? IS IT JUST A NON-PROFIT INSTITUTION FOCUSED ON RESEARCH OR IS IT GOING TO BE AN ECOLOGICAL DE FACTO FOCAL POINT? DOES IT HAVE TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ETH HOLDERS? SHOULD IT ALSO RESPOND TO MARKET EXPECTATIONS FOR GROWTH, ADOPTION AND VALUE ACCUMULATION

EF HAS LONG FAILED TO PROVIDE CLEAR ANSWERS TO THESE QUESTIONS。As a result, currency disputes, enforcement disputes, governance disputes and even loss of personnel have become a cumulative battle around the Foundation itself。AND PLUS THE PERSISTENT LOW VALUE OF ETH, THE COMMUNITY NEEDS AN EMOTIONAL VENTILATOR, AND THE EF IS EXACTLY THE RIGHT CHARACTER。

EF ANSWER: REDELINE THE BORDER

IF ALL THE COMMUNITY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE EF OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS ULTIMATELY POINT TO A BLURRING OF THE ROLE OF THE FOUNDATION, THE CENTRAL ELEMENT OF THE REFORM IS THAT THE EF HAS FINALLY BEGUN TO REDEFINE ITSELF, CLARIFY WHAT TO DO AND WHAT TO DO。

FROM THE RECENTLY PUBLISHED ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE, EF HAS CLEARLY DIVIDED THE FOCUS OF ITS FUTURE WORK INTO THE FOLLOWING FIVE DIRECTIONS:

• (a) Agreement level: to promote core protocol development and network security
• Level of access: focus on wallets, tools development and infrastructure experience
• (a) User level: Focus applications and user experience
• Community level: taking responsibility for the development and ecological coordination
• Institutional level: responsible for promoting the adoption of the Ethera by government, business and traditional institutions。

WHILE THE FUNCTIONAL CLUSTERS ARE CLEAR, EFS ARE ACTIVELY CONTRACTING THROUGH A 20 PER CENT STAFF REDUCTION AND A 40 PER CENT BUDGET REDUCTION. IT'S WORTH NOTINGVitalik did not package the reform as a simple “promoting efficiency”, but frankly it meant real losses -- some projects would end, some capabilities would disappear, some long-term contributors would leave。

Vitalik, for example, the PSE (Privacy and Scaling Outreach) team, which has long focused on the front line of privacy and outreach, will gradually withdraw from the historical arena; Devcon will also transition to a smaller, lower-cost model in the future; the Foundation's investment in large-scale projects outside the Taifing House will decrease; and institutional collaboration will also focus and contract further。

But Vitalik also stressed that this does not mean that the whole industry's input in these directions will decline simultaneously. On the contrary, much of the work has moved from the “exploration” phase to the “implementation” phase, from within the EF to the broader ecosystem。

For an organization with a long-term responsibility for research, financing, coordination and even part of ecological promotion, this means a clear role concession。INSTEAD OF TRYING TO BE AN ALL-ENCOMPASSING ECOLOGICAL CENTRE, EF WANTS TO RETURN TO CORE FUNCTIONS SUCH AS PROTOCOL RESEARCH, PUBLIC GOODS SUPPORT AND ECOLOGICAL COORDINATION. FOR MORE SPECIFIC CONSTRUCTION WORK, IT IS GRADUALLY LEFT TO INDEPENDENT TEAMS AND MARKET FORCES WITHIN THE ECOLOGY。

The ecological power is being filled

IF THE REFORM OF THE EF IMPLIES A PROACTIVE RETREAT, ANOTHER CONCERN THAT IS OF CONCERN IS THAT OF EXHILARATION, WHO WILL FILL THE SPACE LEFT BEHIND? THE ANSWER NOW ALSO APPEARS: ECOLOGY。

Just before the Foundation announced its reorganization, Ethlabs, created by a number of former EF core researchers, was inaugurated and quickly received support from ecological forces such as Bitmine, SharpLink and Joseph Lubin。(Recommended to readThe Etherwood Foundation split up? A book that understands Ethlabs' Light Future)

If put in the past, such brain drain can easily be interpreted as a sign of a decline in the influence of the Foundation, but the reaction of this market is the opposite. The emergence of Ethlabs has been seen by many more as a benefit to the Taifeng, as it implies a proliferation of talent, resources and research capabilities that are already highly concentrated within the Foundation and are spreading to more independent organizations。

In addition to Ethlabs, the past year has seen the emergence of independent organizations such as Argot Ecology, Etheum Applications Guild, etc. At the same time, the public treasury company, represented by Bitmine and SharpLink, has also begun to participate in ecological construction through funds, research grants, etc。

THE POWER STRUCTURE OF THE ETA HAS CHANGED FUNDAMENTALLY COMPARED TO A DECADE AGO: IT WAS ALMOST EQUIVALENT TO THE EFBut today ' s development of the Ethera is no longer dependent on a single institution, but is increasingly requiring collaboration and division of labour among the different organizations in the ecology。

It's from the competition

OF COURSE, THE REFORM OF THE EF DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE PROBLEMS FACING THE ETHERA HAVE BEEN SOLVED。

WHETHER ETH VALUES CAPTURE DISPUTE, INSTITUTIONAL ADOPTION PROCESS, OR ECO-COMPETITIVENESS AND IMPLEMENTATION EFFICIENCY ISSUES WILL NOT AUTOMATICALLY DISAPPEAR AS A RESULT OF A REORGANIZATION OF THE ORGANIZATION, BUT AT LEAST EF HAS BEGUN TO RECOGNIZE ONE THING -With the growth of the Ether Workshop, the Foundation has become more and more limited, and it has long been unable to continue to play “the person who solves all the problems”。

Just after the EF announced the reform, Solana co-founder toly wrote in X:Budget constraints force us to prioritize and focus. The Ether House will not disappear. A smaller, more streamlined Etherwood Foundation will be more decisive, faster in action and faster in direction。It's not the same

THE OLD OPPONENT'S APPROVAL IS PROBABLY THE HIGHEST ASSESSMENT OF THE EF REFORM。