Despite Ethereum securing nearly $1T in value, many of its key contributors earn less than half the salaries offered by competitors.
A new report from Protocol Guild has shown that Ethereum’s core developers are being paid far below industry standards.
The survey collected responses from 111 out of 190 Guild members and found that most are earning 50% to 60% less than their peers in similar roles.
Median salaries for surveyed Ethereum developers came in at about $140,000, compared with offers averaging $300,000 at rival projects. The report also detailed pay by area of focus, with average salaries at $130,000 for client developers, $215,000 for researchers, and $130,000 for coordination roles.
Additionally, these contributors said that they don’t get any equity or token exposure from their employers. The general allocation was $0, with only 37% of respondents receiving anything. On the other hand, final-stage offers made to their peers at rival organizations in the past year included a median equity or token share of 6.5%. This ranges from cofounder-level allocations of 10% to 30% to early employee grants of 0.1% to 3%.
The gap has created pressure; almost 40% of respondents have received outside job offers in the past year. In total, 108 were disclosed across 42 individuals, with the average package reaching $359,000. Some developers said they had been offered as much as $700,000 to move elsewhere.
Established in 2022, Protocol Guild has become a lifeline for such developers. Backed by the “1% Pledge” from projects including EigenLayer, Ether.fi, Taiko, and Puffer, the group has distributed over $33 million since launch. VanEck also pledged 10% of profits from its spot Ether ETF to the initiative in 2023.
Over the last 12 months, the average Guild member received $66,000 through this funding, while the median distribution was $74,285. That support represented nearly one-third of total annual compensation for many employees, with the mean pay rising from $140,000 to $207,121.
Survey responses show how important this extra support has been, with 59% of participants rating Guild funding as “very” or “extremely important” to their ability to keep working on Ethereum.
The network has secured nearly $1 trillion in value, serves millions of users, and powers thousands of applications reliant on key upgrades. Protocol Guild warned that inadequate compensation puts Ethereum at risk by undermining developer retention, slowing progress on the roadmap, and threatening long-term neutrality.
The group also emphasized that aligning pay with market rates is important to keep talent in place and ensure the ecosystem’s future growth.
