Donnell Dixon, SDF Executive Director, announced major organizational changes at Meridian including burning 50 billion lumens, right-sizing capital allocation, hiring a CMO, and refocusing the foundation's mission on creating equitable access to the global financial system through strategic pillars and ecosystem support.
At Meridian conference, Stellar Development Foundation Executive Director Donnell Dixon outlined SDF's strategic direction for the next decade. Key announcements include burning 50 billion lumens to right-size capital, reducing SDF's operating fund from 17 billion to 12 billion lumens, eliminating the World Giveaway and Partnership programs, and restructuring lumen allocation into focused buckets: operations (12B), ecosystem support (1B), currency support (1B), use case investment (10B), and marketing (2B). Dixon emphasized SDF's role as a non-profit connector and convener, highlighted the network's growing decentralization, and introduced new strategic pillars including becoming a trusted blockchain, ensuring robustness and usability, and fostering sustainable use cases. The foundation also hired a Chief Marketing Officer and General Counsel focused on policy and regulatory efforts. Dixon addressed challenges including network effects, regulatory education, and gender diversity in the ecosystem.