Earlier this week on May 21st the Ethereum Foundation published its Spring 2019 update and spilt all the details on the planned development for the next coming year.

The report mainly focuses on how ETH plans on allocating the $30 million designated for use by the Foundation in further developing the currency. The Foundation further went onto report on the “tremendous progress” being made for the cryptocurrency over the last twelve months and gave a nod to the efforts of developers, entrepreneurs of Ethereum. Despite the growth of competition with rival projects like EOS and TRON, the Foundation also claims Ethereum to be the “de-facto platform for decentralized applications.” Even so, research has shown us that Ethereum’s grip on the dApp marketplace is fading away.

Funnily enough, the Foundation has reported a change in attitude towards its mission statement, owing to a refinement in focus. Compared to previous years, the motto “doing what is best for Ethereum” doesn’t mean “trying to do everything for the currency” anymore.

No, instead the Foundation claims to be keyed in on affecting change where it can add the most value while leaving the remainder for developers and innovators more in line to deal with issues they are effective in solving.

The Foundation claims that its updated role is to now be “a resource allocator, a voice in the ecosystem, and an advocate for Ethereum to the world.”

In fact, according to the report, the Ethereum Foundation is in control of 0.6 percent of all ETH, in addition to holding cash reserves. However, the Foundation claims that its resources will go down over time, with the largest valuation being invested into “critical work” across the ETH ecosystem. The Foundation also relays to investors that understand the importance of the capital they command and intend to use it wisely.

“It is our responsibility to ensure that every last dollar and wei is spent effectively.”

This year’s update will also include an initiative to help the funding for the Ethereum ecosystem’s increase beyond the foundation.

They define this as:

“Encouraging other organizations besides the Foundation to support high-priority projects, and supporting innovative mechanisms for funding, including Gitcoin grants and MolochDAO. Efforts like these give us better leverage from our existing resources, and help build a sustainable path for funding vital projects far into the future.”

So with some cryptocurrency projects, they will usually creep around the problem that is decentralisation. But the Ethereum Foundation claims that it is a benefit to the currency and potential voice of authority. In writing to investors, the Foundation has said:

“We understand that many look to the Foundation as a valued voice even as we move to proactively empower others. That voice is a resource that can be used effectively to advance Ethereum. We are able to, for instance, bring attention to important but relatively unknown projects, share valuable information about Ethereum’s progress with the public, and encourage the growth of regional Ethereum communities.”

The Foundation went on to say that they are going to be more involved with the Ethereum community in the future saying: “moving forward, expect the Ethereum Foundation to be a more active voice in the Ethereum community.”

This year's update shows us an increase for on-boarding developers and improving the developer experience as two potential in-roads for the Ethereum Foundation to tackle over the next 12 months. With the 2.0 update coming soon, things are looking interesting at Ethereum.