A new compensation report from the Protocol Guild (PG) shows that most Ethereum core developers work for less than half of what they could earn elsewhere.

The survey, which gathered responses from 111 of the group’s 190 members across 11 organizations, paints the clearest picture yet of how underpaid the builders of Ethereum’s core infrastructure remain.

According to the findings, the typical Ethereum core contributor earns an average of $157,939, which is around 60% below the average $359,074 market compensation offered by competing firms.

Notably, these developers are also provided with little or no equity or token incentives, while the median competing firm offers around 7% equity grant.

The report furthered that nearly 40% of respondents received final job offers from other companies within the past year, highlighting how competitive the talent market has become.

However, many of these core contributors continue to turn down higher-paying roles to remain focused on maintaining the Ethereum network.

Speaking about these numbers, Ethereum developer Phil Ngo described core contributors as “selfless people” working under financial strain because they believe in building a financial system not ruled by traditional gatekeepers.

According to him: