The Ethereum Foundation has reportedly received a confidential inquiry from a state authority, resulting in the removal of its warrant canary from the organization's website. The Foundation, a non-profit that supports Ethereum without directly controlling it, has mistakenly removed the warrant canary once before in 2019. Ethereum showed little reaction in price to the news. Experts suggest such inquiries are fairly common in the crypto industry.

The Ethereum Foundation (EF) is preparing to release a new report detailing its spending for 2022 and 2023 to be published before Devcon SEA. Preliminary data shows that about 62% of spending went to external grants and 38% to internal teams, with significant investments in building new institutions to support the Ethereum ecosystem long-term.

The Ethereum ecosystem faces a significant social challenge in integrating decentralization with cooperation among its diverse participants. This includes client teams, researchers, layer 2 developers, application creators, and local community groups, all of whom are pursuing their own visions for Ethereum. The primary concern is ensuring that these various projects contribute to a cohesive Ethereum ecosystem rather than creating isolated, incompatible factions. To address this challenge, the idea of "Ethereum alignment" has emerged, encompassing values alignment, technological alignment, and economic alignment. Values alignment emphasizes principles such as open-source development, minimizing centralization, and supporting public goods. Technological alignment focuses on adhering to ecosystem-wide standards, while economic alignment encourages the use of ETH as a token. However, the concept of alignment has often been poorly defined, leading to the risk of social layer capture, where alignment becomes synonymous with having the right connections rather than adhering to shared principles. To enhance the clarity of alignment, it is proposed that the concept be broken down into specific properties represented by measurable metrics. While individual interpretations of these metrics may vary and evolve over time, there are foundational starting points that can guide the community. Open-source development is crucial for ensuring security and reducing the risk of proprietary lock-in, allowing for permissionless improvements. Core infrastructure components should be open source, adhering to established definitions from the Free Software Foundation and the Open Source Initiative. Striving for open standards is essential for interoperability within the Ethereum ecosystem. Projects should build on existing standards and collaborate to create new ones when necessary. Applications and wallets can be evaluated based on their compatibility with these standards. Decentralization and security are vital to avoid points of trust and minimize censorship vulnerabilities. Metrics such as the "walkaway test" and the "insider attack test" can help assess a project's resilience and security. Projects should aim to be positive-sum, benefiting the broader Ethereum community and contributing to public goods. This includes using ETH as a token, supporting open-source technology, and committing a portion of tokens or revenue to ecosystem-wide initiatives. Additionally, projects should strive to create sustainable value for wider audiences, addressing global challenges and promoting financial inclusion. Recognizing that not all metrics apply universally, it is important to tailor them to specific project types, such as layer 2 solutions or decentralized social media applications. The priority of certain metrics may also shift over time, reflecting the evolving landscape of the ecosystem. The goal is to see the emergence of entities like L2beat that can track how well projects align with these criteria. This would foster a competitive environment where projects strive for alignment based on clear, understandable metrics rather than social connections. The Ethereum Foundation should maintain a neutral stance, supporting initiatives like L2beat without becoming directly involved in their operations. By making alignment more legible, organizations and individuals can better determine which projects to support based on their own criteria. This approach encourages a meritocratic environment where merit is clearly defined, avoiding the pitfalls of exclusivity and negative-sum dynamics. Concerns about oversight can be addressed through established principles like the separation of powers, allowing for a decentralized monitoring system that enhances fairness and inclusivity within the Ethereum ecosystem.