Discussions around ecological governance and long-term sources of finance are again heating up as the Etherwood Foundation further fades out of the centre. Van Epps, a former member of the Foundation, stated that the main problem currently facing the ITA is not the technical route, but how to establish more stable financing mechanisms for public goods that sustain network operations.
The foundation continues to fade out of the center.
Van Epps states that one of the reasons for his departure from the Taifung Foundation is that the Foundation is accelerating the “mitigation” approach, which is further decentralization of authority and legitimacy to the wider ecology rather than continuing to strengthen the status of a single core institution.
According to him, the Foundation did not intend to concentrate more power, but rather hoped that, in the future, ecological affairs would be coordinated by a number of independent agencies. This has also occurred following the recent management changes and downsizing of the Foundation, which has led to increased outside interest in the future governance structure of the ETA.
Core development still needs about $30 million per year
Van Epps argues that the ETA is not facing a survival crisis, but rather a real financial succession. He estimated that core agreement development would require approximately $30 million per year, while the Foundation ' s treasury would decline over time.
He noted that the problem was not one of reduced technology demand, but rather of who would be willing to continue to pay for these public goods, which did not produce direct commercial returns, but were network secure and stable.
- Core agreement development year requirements are approximately $30 million
- Protocol Guild cumulative allocation of nearly $40 million over four years
- Funding focused on core development and network public goods
He mentioned that the self-propelled Protocol Guild had been allocated close to US$ 40 million for approximately four years to its core developers. However, this mechanism in itself is not sufficient to replace the broader system of ecological finance.
New institutions and large stakeholders or next priorities
Despite financial pressure, Van Epps remains optimistic about the future of the Ethera. He indicated that the ETA remained in the lead in decentralizing finance, stabilizing currency settlements and the introduction of EVM, and that these network effects were not easily replicated by competitors.
He expected further fragmentation in the next decade. The Etherwood Foundation will continue to exist, but its role will shrink, and more new institutions may shift to research, commercialization and eco-growth.
Van Epps also indicated that the ETH as an asset needed to be more clearly defined and linked to the growing chain economy. In his judgement, the long-term measurement of the success of the Ether Workshop will still depend on wider adoption, as well as more users entering the Ether Workshop and its Layer 2 ecology.