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BitMine Immersion Technologies Chairman Tom Lee has pushed back against warnings of an Ethereum developer-funding crisis after a former Ethereum Foundation contributor warned of a possible $30 million annual shortfall.
Lee responded on X to Trent Van Epps, who said Ethereum core development could face a funding gap within three to nine months if no replacement is found for expired client-team support.
Van Epps Warns of $30M Developer Gap
Van Epps, who coordinated core protocol development and the Protocol Guild funding effort at the Ethereum Foundation from 2021 until April 2026, published a warning Thursday about what he described as a slow-burning funding risk.
He estimated that sustaining Ethereum’s more than 10 client teams, researchers and coordination groups costs about $30 million a year.
Van Epps pointed to two pressures. The Client Incentive Program, a four-year effort that paid client teams through staking rewards, expired in April 2026 with no successor announced. The Foundation has also begun reducing annual treasury spending from 15% toward a 5% baseline by 2030.
Expired Client Program Drives Concern
Van Epps said Ethereum risks losing people with years of critical context if funding becomes unstable. He also warned that lower support could leave core teams slower to respond to long-term challenges such as quantum computing and scaling.
The warning puts new attention on how Ethereum funds core development as the Foundation reduces spending and more responsibility shifts to the wider ecosystem.
Lee Says Stakers Can Fill Shortfall
Lee rejected the crisis framing. “In my opinion, zero chance of this ‘crisis’ happening for $ETH,” Lee wrote, adding: “Funding secured.”
Lee chairs BitMine, a large corporate Ethereum treasury that says it holds more than 5.6 million ETH and has staked roughly $8.1 billion through its validator network. His response rests on the view that profit-seeking stakers, rather than only the Ethereum Foundation, can help support development.
Wang Exit Adds Foundation Pressure
The funding debate landed as Hsiao-Wei Wang stepped down Thursday as co-executive director and board member of the Ethereum Foundation.
Her departure leaves Bastian Aue effectively as the sole executive director. Wang’s exit marks at least the eighth senior departure from the Foundation in 2026, following Van Epps in April and co-executive director Tomasz Stańczak in February.
Feist Calls Departures Bearish
The Ethereum Foundation has said its treasury plan keeps it solvent for the medium term. Ethereum researcher Dankrad Feist took a more cautious view, saying the departures are “truly bearish for Ethereum” and tying the exits to management rather than strategy.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, who has previously written that the Foundation was “not designed to be an eternal steward,” posted a tribute to Wang after her exit. The dispute leaves Ethereum’s developer-funding model under fresh scrutiny as the Foundation faces another senior leadership departure.
