James Richardson
The Ethereum Foundation (EF) has published its 2024 financial report, disclosing that its treasury holds $970.2 million in assets as of October 31. The EF’s crypto assets are valued at $788.7 million, with 99.45% held in ether, accounting for approximately 0.26% of the total ether supply. Additionally, the foundation reported $181.5 million in non-crypto investments.
“We choose to hold the majority of our treasury in ETH, reflecting our belief in Ethereum’s long-term potential,” the EF stated. The foundation emphasized its commitment to “funding key public goods for the Ethereum ecosystem,” while maintaining a conservative financial strategy to ensure resilience in market downturns.
The EF highlighted its approach to selling ether periodically to secure stable funding, especially during bear markets. This strategy includes gradually increasing fiat reserves during bullish market cycles to provide financial stability through potential multi-year market downturns. However, the foundation has faced community criticism for large, unannounced transactions, prompting calls for increased transparency in its treasury management.
Following recent concerns over potential conflicts of interest, the EF elaborated on its conflict of interest policy in the report. The policy requires staff to disclose any external work arrangements to their team leads and mandates internal review for external roles generating over $25,000 per year. Staff are prohibited from accepting compensation in illiquid assets or token packages from pre-launch projects, though rare exceptions may be granted under strict conditions.
2023 Expenditure and Focus on Ecosystem Development
In 2023, the EF’s top spending area was “new institutions,” which totaled $47.4 million, a substantial increase from $28.6 million in 2022. This includes grants to organizations fostering Ethereum’s development. Layer 1 research and development also saw a boost, with $34.7 million allocated this year compared to $32.1 million in 2022.
“EF’s long-term approach remains focused on building a sustainable and open Ethereum ecosystem,” wrote Aya Miyaguchi, executive director of the Ethereum Foundation. “We’re more dedicated than ever to fostering resilience and growth that will benefit Ethereum for years to come.”
Ethereum’s Network Activity Continues to Rise
Ethereum’s network has shown consistent growth over recent months. The number of active addresses reached 13.7 million in October, a steady rise from 12.3 million in September. On-chain transaction volume also climbed, reaching $108.6 billion in October, up from $90.9 billion in September and $57.1 billion year-over-year.
ETH has seen positive price momentum as well, gaining 2.4% in the past 24 hours to reach $2,912, with a 19% increase over the last five days as part of a broader crypto market rally.
