Trent Van Epps, former core developer coordinator of the Ethereum Foundation, released a report warning that the Ethereum core development ecosystem could face a funding crisis within the next 3 to 9 months. The report highlights that with the implementation of the foundation's planned budget cuts and the termination of key incentive programs, there is now a shortfall in the approximately $30 million annual baseline budget required to maintain and upgrade the Ethereum core network. The core of the funding pressure stems from the intersection of two established financial policies. First, the 'Client Incentive Program,' launched in 2021 to fund independent client development teams through validator staking rewards, officially expired in April 2026, with no replacement program currently in place. Second, the Ethereum Foundation is executing its asset management plan announced in June 2025, gradually reducing its annual spending ratio from 15% of the treasury's total to a baseline of 5% by 2030. Currently, this annual budget is primarily used to support the daily operations of over 10 client teams, cryptographic research institutions, and core coordination groups. At the same time, as funding channels tighten, Ethereum's core governance is undergoing significant personnel changes. In the same week that Van Epps issued his warning, Ethereum Foundation Co-Executive Director and Board Member Xiaowei Wang announced her resignation, leaving Bastien Au as the sole Executive Director. This follows the departure of Co-Executive Director Tomasz Stanczak in February of this year, marking the eighth core researcher or contributor to leave in 2026. The loss of senior developers with long-term accumulated core context has directly increased the security audit and delivery costs for major upcoming network upgrades like 'Glamsterdam.' In response to this warning, market stakeholders have shown sharply divided attitudes. Tom Lee, Chairman of BitMine Immersion Technologies, a whale entity holding approximately 5.4 million ETH (about 4.5% of the circulating supply), publicly refuted the crisis narrative, claiming the probability of such a scenario is zero. He stated that his company generates over $230 million annually in staking rewards through its proprietary validator network, and enterprise-level validators have the capacity to fill the gap. Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin has also publicly stated that the foundation was never designed to be the network's permanent manager, setting the groundwork for core responsibilities to shift toward independent institutions and market-driven long-term funding channels.