Analysis: Ethereum Foundation holds $845 million in ETH, with $30 million in grants in Q4 2023

DeFi researcher Ignas posted on X that the Ethereum Foundation (EF) holds $845 million in ETH, accounting for 0.25% of the total supply of ETH. EF spent $30 million on grants in the fourth quarter of 2023, and only spent $8.9 million in the third quarter of 2023. EF allocates grants for education and niche (but cool) products that may not receive a lot of VC support. This may explain why they are reluctant to fund DeFi protocols because they will receive external funds from VCs. However, EF lacks a comprehensive and transparent report on total expenditures. The latest report is for 2021, showing a total expenditure of $48 million for internal expenditures and external grants and bonuses. The biggest expenses are: $21 million for L1 R&D; $9.7 million for community development, including grants and education; $5.1 million for internal operations (salaries, legal fees, etc.); Therefore, 10% of total expenses in 2021 are used to pay developers' salaries and support the maintenance of EF. Earlier, in response to the Ethereum Foundation's Executive Director Aya Miyaguchi saying that the Foundation's annual budget is $100 million, Hudson Jameson, a former employee of the Ethereum Foundation, posted on the X platform that the Foundation's annual budget of about $100 million is not crazy, and the reason why people find it difficult to understand this number is that the Foundation's structure and philosophy are not suitable for putting every program they participate in and carry out in one place.