Overview

• Responses from 111 of 190 Protocol Guild members across 11 organizations underpin the report’s findings.
• The typical core contributor earns $157,939, roughly 60% below a reported $359,074 market package at competing firms.
• Most contributors receive little or no equity or token upside, while the median competing employer offers about a 7% equity grant.
• Nearly 40% of respondents say they received final job offers elsewhere in the past year, yet many stay out of conviction, according to developer Phil Ngo.
• The report warns that underpayment threatens retention and Ethereum’s technical roadmap, and legal analyst Gabriel Shapiro backs partial pay in locked ETH while rejecting reliance on ad hoc token donations such as those from EigenLayer.