budget

Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, stated that the Ethereum Foundation (EF) has announced a budget cut of approximately 40% this year as part of its financial transformation plan.According to the funding management policy released last year, EF is gradually transitioning from an "expenditure-based organization" to an "endowment-based model," aiming to reduce the annual expenditure ratio from about 15% to approximately 5% after 2030. In this process, the foundation emphasizes that it will accept inevitable personnel and resource adjustments and acknowledges the loss of some capabilities and experience.In this round of restructuring, EF has reduced approximately 54 employees, accounting for about 20% of the overall team. Vitalik stated that many of these departing members may continue to participate in the Ethereum ecosystem in external forms in the future. Meanwhile, the foundation will shift its strategic focus to a more "lightweight" protocol governance and development path, including advancing the "Strawmap" long-term roadmap, covering core protocol upgrades such as consensus mechanisms, privacy technologies, account models, and state structures, and promoting Ethereum's evolution into its third phase.In terms of specific structural adjustments, EF will weaken the "multi-client redundancy priority" model and shift towards a development approach based more on specialized division of labor and AI-assisted formal verification; the privacy and scalability research team PSE will be restructured, transitioning from exploratory R&D to more focused engineering implementation; the scale of ecosystem activities such as Devcon will also gradually be reduced.In addition, EF will reduce investments in large cross-domain projects in the future, placing greater emphasis on protocol security and high-value improvements, while encouraging more innovative work to be completed externally. Although the path is more streamlined, Ethereum will continue to strengthen its core positioning as a highly censorship-resistant and long-term stable protocol.

According to a report by Politico, a document submitted by the European Commission to member states and the European Parliament shows that the EU is assessing the possibility of incorporating the cryptocurrency industry into a unified tax system to find new sources of fiscal revenue for the 2028-2034 budget cycle.The document estimates that if a tax rate of 0.1% is applied to cryptocurrency transaction volumes, it could bring in about 3 billion to 4 billion euros in revenue for the EU each year; if capital gains from cryptocurrencies are taxed, it is expected to increase fiscal revenue by about 1 billion to 2.4 billion euros annually.However, the European Commission also pointed out that due to the still inadequate data related to the cryptocurrency industry, there is significant uncertainty in the current revenue forecasts, and the actual results may differ from the estimates.The relevant proposal is still in the evaluation stage, and to be formally implemented, it requires unanimous approval from all 27 EU member states. If progress goes smoothly, this will become one of the most important discussions on unified tax policy for the cryptocurrency industry in the EU.

The Bitcoin TAP protocol ecological project BIT (@dmt_bit_) has released a new roadmap, announcing a focus on the narrative of "Bitcoin Security Budget Layer," with tokens being directly issued to Bitcoin miners every block as a new source of miner subsidies.The BIT team disclosed that currently only the $NAT token enjoys the miner subsidy mechanism under the TAP protocol, and this mechanism is hardcoded in the protocol's source code (effective only for the dmt-nat token), making it unavailable for other DMT projects. The TAP protocol has also not publicly disclosed any third-party security audits to date.BIT has submitted a code upgrade proposal to TAP, hoping to open this mechanism for use by all DMT tokens, but it was rejected by the TAP officials.According to the roadmap, BIT will next develop a new protocol based on a TAP fork—any DMT token deployment party can customize the token issuance rules and miner distribution methods (including distribution by mining pool weight, independent miner prize accumulation, mixed distribution, etc.) through a single inscription, eliminating any hardcoded privileges for projects. A third-party security audit will be completed before the mainnet launch of the new protocol. $BIT will serve as the native token of the new protocol, and the ecological development of the protocol will continue to empower $BIT.

According to Jinshi reports, Trump's budget proposal is expected to result in a real GDP growth of 3.1% in the fiscal year 2027.

According to BBX data, global listed companies made key progress in "health optimization" of their treasury structures yesterday:$50 million addition: Boyaa Interactive (0434.HK) announced yesterday that the board has approved an additional budget of $50 million for increasing its holdings in Bitcoin and Ethereum. So far, the group has invested over $250 million, aiming to establish itself as the largest digital asset treasury entity in Asia.Officially entering "debt-free holding": TeraWulf (NASDAQ: $WULF) announced yesterday that it has used cash flow generated from its high-performance computing business to pay off the last of its high-interest debt. As one of the most energy-efficient mining companies globally, the company reiterated that it has entered the "100% output retention" phase as of yesterday.Computing power as net reserves: HIVE Digital (TSX-V: $HIVE) disclosed yesterday that the profits from its AI data center in Sweden have fully covered global operating expenses for two consecutive months. This means that all Bitcoin produced yesterday is recorded as "net reserves," with no need for any market sell-off.$10 million procurement settled: Acurx Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: $ACXP) confirmed yesterday that its first $10 million strategic procurement of Bitcoin has been fully completed. As a biopharmaceutical company, ACXP plans to use this asset as a "value anchor" for its clinical research and development funding over the next five years.Automated treasury upgrade: Public.com launched an "automated treasury balancing" suite for small and medium-sized enterprises globally yesterday, supporting the automatic proportional conversion of idle corporate funds into BTC, with the first-day subscription scale exceeding $80 million.

According to Jinshi, U.S. President Trump stated that he may increase the military budget to $1.5 trillion.

Aave Labs announced the security framework for Aave V4, proposing a "security-first" development model that embeds security verification during the architectural design phase, rather than only conducting a final audit before launch.This security plan has been ongoing for about a year, with approximately 345 days of security reviews completed, funded by a $1.5 million security budget approved by the Aave DAO. It is reported that the V4 security process combines multiple auditing methods, including formal verification, manual audits, invariant testing, fuzzing, and public security competitions. Future protocol development will continue to adopt five long-term security measures, including introducing formal verification early in development, implementing multi-layer security auditing methods, continuous validation mechanisms, a long-term bug bounty program, and utilizing AI-assisted smart contract security scanning.

Fluid is currently discussing a governance proposal submitted by Instadapp's Chief Operating Officer DMH on February 23. The proposal suggests transferring all intellectual property of the protocol (including smart contract code, front-end interface, domain names, and trademarks) to a non-profit foundation in the Cayman Islands, and applying for a monthly DAO allocation of $250,000 (approximately $3 million per year) to support engineering, security, and business operations.The foundation will have no actual owners and will be operated by custodians and directors, with FLUID token holders retaining ultimate control through governance voting, including the ability to vote to dissolve the foundation in extreme cases. Fluid currently has a TVL of over $1.2 billion, with approximately $1.1 million in protocol revenue in January. If the proposal is approved, the monthly allocation would represent about 16% of its highest historical monthly revenue. The legal work for the transfer of intellectual property is expected to be completed by mid-2026.

According to CoinDesk, India's federal budget for the fiscal year 2026-27 maintains the existing 30% cryptocurrency capital gains tax and 1% withholding tax, disappointing industry groups that had sought tax reductions. The government did not adjust the tax rates but proposed new penalties for entities that fail to properly report cryptocurrency transactions under Section 509 of the Income Tax Act starting from April 1, 2026.Failure to submit the required reports will incur a daily fine of 200 rupees (approximately $2.2) until the non-compliance ends. If the submitted information is incorrect, or if errors are not corrected after being discovered, a fixed penalty of 50,000 rupees (approximately $545) will be imposed. Officials stated that this move aims to strengthen compliance, but market participants warn that it will continue to create friction for traders.

According to Jinshi Data, the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget issued a memorandum to department heads, instructing agencies whose funding will expire at midnight to begin preparations for a government shutdown. These agencies include the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of State, the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Education, the Department of Transportation, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Las Water stated, "Given that Congress clearly cannot complete its work before the funding deadline, the affected agencies should now implement an orderly shutdown plan. Employees should report to work on time, fulfill their next regular job responsibilities, and carry out orderly shutdown activities. The government will continue to work with Congress to address the recently raised issues and complete the appropriations for fiscal year 2026. We hope this shutdown will not last long."

According to market news, Russia has begun to introduce the digital ruble on a large scale in the budget system and banking sector in preparation for its full promotion.Since the beginning of this year, the digital ruble has been actively used for transactions related to the state, and it is now available for transfers to the government budget and payments to federal agencies. Russia has set a phased schedule and deadlines for the promotion of the digital ruble for banks and businesses, stipulating that by September 1, 2026, the largest banks in Russia and their retail clients must allow customers to use the digital ruble for transactions.The Central Bank of Russia has also decided that, starting last week, transactions using citizens' and companies' digital ruble accounts for paying taxes, fees, and government-related payments will be exempt from transaction fees.

ChainCatcher news, according to informed sources, Canada is in discussions regarding stablecoin regulatory rules and may announce a significant update in the federal budget to be released next week. These sources indicate that government officials have been in deep discussions with regulators and industry participants for weeks.It is reported that Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will address this topic in the budget documents to be released on November 4. In July of this year, the United States passed the "Genius Act," which authorizes financial regulators to oversee stablecoin issuers and their reserve management practices, and requires issuers to comply with anti-money laundering and sanctions evasion regulations. This new law has been welcomed by many in the crypto industry. However, in Canada, due to the lack of relevant legislation, regulators have indicated that stablecoins may constitute securities or derivatives. Some experts believe they should be regulated as payment instruments and subjected to strict oversight.

ChainCatcher news, according to Decrypt, the Philippine Senate is reviewing Bill No. 1330, which was introduced by Senator Paolo Benigno "Bam" Aquino IV at the end of August. The bill plans to allocate approximately $8.6 million to put the national budget records on the blockchain, aiming to enhance government spending transparency and curb corruption.The backdrop of this move is the public's strong concern over alleged irregularities in approximately $9.2 billion infrastructure projects. However, several legal experts have expressed concerns about this. Former Philippine Attorney General Florin Hilbay warned that merely using blockchain technology does not automatically promote transparency or prevent corruption, and may instead simplify it to a "marketing tool." Technology law expert Russell Geronimo pointed out that the issue lies not in the lack of an immutable ledger, but in the weak mechanisms for procurement oversight, auditing, and whistleblower protection.The Philippine Fintech Lawyers Association cautioned that private entities controlling blockchain infrastructure could lead to the de facto privatization of public data, recommending that the government retain ownership and control over budget data and adopt open-source protocols to prevent vendor lock-in and monopolies.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk Japan, the Financial Services Agency (FSA) of Japan has announced its budget, organization, and staffing requirements for the fiscal year 2026. In the requirements, the agency proposed a significant reorganization, including the establishment of a new "Cryptocurrency and Innovation Department," with a budget set at 25 billion yen (an increase of 1.19 billion yen from the previous fiscal year), approximately 170 million USD.According to the documents released, the FSA has identified the reorganization's objective as "the need to utilize new digital technologies such as fintech, cryptocurrency trading, and artificial intelligence to enhance the ability to respond to changes in financial services."The proposed measures include renaming and reorganizing the existing "Comprehensive Policy Bureau" into the "Asset Management and Insurance Regulatory Bureau (provisional name)," and establishing a "Cryptocurrency and Innovation Division" under this new bureau, upgrading the current "Cryptocurrency and Innovation Advisory Office" to the "Cryptocurrency and Innovation Division."

ChainCatcher news, Philippine Senator Bam Aquino stated at the Manila Tech Summit that he suggested recording national budget transactions on the blockchain so that citizens can trace the flow of every fund. He said, "No one would want to put transactions on a chain that everyone can track, but we want to try." No formal bill has been submitted yet.Once implemented, the plan will be based on the blockchain platform already launched by the Philippine Department of Budget and Management (DBM), which has taken the lead in Asia by putting some financial documents on-chain. The platform is technically supported by the local blockchain infrastructure company BayaniChain, whose CEO Paul Soliman pointed out that while blockchain is not a "magic bullet" against corruption, it can enhance accountability through immutable records. The existing DBM system utilizes the Polygon PoS network as a layer for transparency and consensus, allowing relevant budget documents such as Special Allotment Release Orders (SARO) and Notices of Cash Allocation (NCA) to be publicly verified.

ChainCatcher news, the Cardano community approved a funding allocation of 96 million ADA (approximately 71 million USD) to the core development team Input Output Global (IOG) with a support rate of 74% through governance voting for a critical network upgrade lasting 12 months.The funds will be disbursed in phases, overseen by the member organization Intersect, focusing on supporting the development of the Layer2 scaling solution Hydra and the node restructuring project Acropolis, aimed at enhancing the developer experience and increasing the demand for ADA tokens.

The Hong Kong-listed company Ruihe Digital Intelligence (03680.HK) announced that the board of directors has resolved to formally lay out its plans in the Web 3.0 and cryptocurrency asset fields while consolidating the existing artificial intelligence and big data business of the group. A budget of HKD 80 million has been approved for the development of the Web 3.0 business and investment in cryptocurrency assets (cryptocurrency asset investment plan) over the next two years.

ChainCatcher news, Swiss bank strategist Ipek Ozkardeskaya stated in a report that the trend of U.S. Treasury yields will depend on two factors. The first factor is the fiscal choices made by the U.S.: whether the budget is sustainable and whether there is any long-term plan to control debt. The second factor is the behavior of global investors: whether global investors are still willing to finance the U.S. deficit, especially in light of deteriorating geopolitical relations, waning enthusiasm for the dollar, and declining confidence in U.S. Treasuries as a safe-haven asset, all of which have also weakened market confidence.