$ETH #ETH

Ethereum is undergoing a deep 'transformation'.

On one side, the foundation is laying off employees and cutting expenses, with a focus on engineering; on the other side, capital is intensively positioning itself, acquiring public shell companies and making large purchases of ETH, constructing an Ethereum version of 'MicroStrategy.'

The foundation has begun to 'take action'

The Ethereum Foundation has begun to 'perform surgery.' Recently, the EF has faced two major criticisms from the community: frequent coin selling and lack of transparency in accounts; and the team being 'retirement-bound' and inefficient. Now, the foundation is attempting to turn this situation around.

At the beginning of the year, the leadership of the Ethereum Foundation completed a 'major overhaul.' However, just two days ago, the foundation announced layoffs and directly renamed the 'Protocol R&D' team to 'Protocol', restructuring around three strategic goals: L1 scaling, blob scaling, and user experience optimization. Each direction now has a clear person in charge and introduces a stronger accountability mechanism. In other words, the EF will enter the 'KPI' era, shifting from 'talking about vision' to 'producing products.'





Bigger moves are occurring at the financial level. Last night, the foundation updated its financial policy: annual expenditures must not exceed 15% of treasury assets, and the plan is to compress this to 5% over the next five years. Whether to sell ETH will be based on the operational buffer period (currently set at 2.5 years) and the proportion of fiat reserves, and will be dynamically adjusted each quarter, implemented through on-chain or fiat channels.

At the same time, the foundation has introduced the 'Defipunk standard' to evaluate projects, emphasizing principles such as open source, self-custody, permissionless access, and privacy protection.

This transformation from structure to system is a signal of a profound shift. The Ethereum Foundation believes that 2025-2026 will be a critical phase for Ethereum; perhaps this is the beginning of Ethereum restarting its efficiency engine.

Ethereum is becoming a battleground for a new round of strategic capital. OGs are collaborating with public shell companies in the US to enter the market and attempt to connect with sovereign capital; the funding landscape for ETH seems to be quietly becoming active.

The ETH version of 'MicroStrategy' is starting to take shape. On May 27, SharpLink Gaming announced the completion of a $425 million private fundraising round and will incorporate ETH into the company's treasury. Shortly after, on May 31, the company plans to raise another $1 billion to increase its holdings. However, the private fundraising involves established institutions like Consensys, ParaFi, Pantera Capital, and Galaxy Digital, which have heavily invested in Ethereum in earlier years, leading to an ETH strategy being spearheaded by OGs and resonating with top players.





Meanwhile, Ethereum co-founder and Consensys CEO Joe Lubin stated that the company is in discussions with a sovereign wealth fund and bank from a 'major country' to explore building financial infrastructure on the Ethereum ecosystem. He hinted that these institutions may involve both Layer 1 and Layer 2 infrastructure of Ethereum, signaling the release of sovereign capital.

Funds within the market are also taking active measures. Last night, a suspected Consensys-associated address purchased $320 million worth of ETH from Galaxy Digital. It has currently staked $120 million worth of ETH through Liquid Collective, reflecting long-term allocation intentions.

Investment firm Trend Research has made a bullish call on ETH, purchasing 8,846 ETH on May 27 for $23 million, with funds sourced from borrowing against ETH collateral on Aave, indicating leverage accumulation.

Additionally, the US spot Ethereum ETF has recorded net inflows for 13 consecutive days, and ETH/BTC has risen about 30% over the past month, rebounding as much as 48% from a multi-year low of 0.01766 set on April 22.





The sound of optimism is rising again

In the current context, more and more investors, institutions, and analysts are beginning to reassess Ethereum's potential and resilience.

10x Research pointed out in its latest market analysis that the trend of ETH exceeds expectations. 'Although we anticipated a wave of correction a few days ago, the actual trend is much more resilient than we expected. From a technical perspective, Ethereum is approaching the apex of a large triangular consolidation structure, and the eventual breakout direction could push the price towards $2000 or $3000.'

Institutional investors are increasing their bets. LD Capital founder Jack Yi indicated that Ethereum's volatile cycle may be nearing its end, stating, 'We are basically fully invested,' and shifting the strategy towards ETH-centric positions. He emphasized that as the ETH Foundation continues to optimize its growth strategy, and with the approval of ETFs alongside macro factors such as M2 growth and interest rate cut expectations, the medium- to long-term logic for ETH and its ecosystem is becoming increasingly clear.

The warming sentiment is also reflected in the community. KOL Blue Fox stated, 'I originally thought Ethereum would take 5-10 years to reach a cognitive breakthrough like BTC did in this cycle, but now it seems that perhaps it can be achieved in 2-3 years; the world's frequency is accelerating.'

However, confused voices also exist; community user @diamondhandjs stated: 'From some indicators, ETH is not performing well, but at the same time, OI continues to rise, as if something big is about to happen. Many third-party funds and bloggers on Twitter are bullish on ETH and have already bought in, but I have thought for a long time and still haven’t grasped it.'




Ethereum is striving to overcome its 'midlife crisis.'

The era driven by idealism and community faith may be drawing to a close, with more pragmatic capital logic and institutional building gradually taking over the narrative. As a16z pointed out, the foundation model is struggling to adapt to the current pace of evolution; the crypto industry needs more efficient incentive mechanisms, clear accountability systems, and scalable structures.





This article is sourced from the crypto tool site: The adult tiger changes, Ethereum is undergoing a 'transformation'

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