Author: Weilin, PANews

In this cycle, the price and ecology of Ethereum have been lagging behind the expectations of many users, and the attention has gradually been taken away by Solana, which has been ignited by memecoins like TRUMP. Behind the complaints, the Executive Director of the Ethereum Foundation (EF) has been accused of "inefficiency", and the issue of the foundation's periodic ETH sales has also made it a target of criticism.

On January 21, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin posted two posts on the X platform, criticizing the calls for the resignation of EF Executive Director Aya Miyaguchi, and refuting the concerns about the centralization of Ethereum's future. This, however, has sparked widespread controversy within and outside the Ethereum community.

Vitalik's tough stance: I am the one who decides the new EF leadership team

According to the EF website, the board has only three members: Vitalik Buterin, Aya Miyaguchi, and Patrick Storchenegger.

On January 21, Vitalik clearly stated in his X platform post that he is the only person who decides the leadership team of the Ethereum Foundation.

He emphasized: "No, that's not how this game is played. I am the one who decides the new EF leadership team. One of the goals of the current reform is to establish a 'proper board of directors' for the EF, but until then, it's still up to me to make the decisions." He further stated that any pressure tactics will undermine the working environment of Ethereum's top developers. "And you're reducing the chances of me being interested in 'doing what you want'."

In a subsequent post, Vitalik clarified the future decentralization direction of the Ethereum Foundation. He pointed out that "the future of the world computer is decentralized. The EF is just a part of the world computer. Perhaps some people who want to reform and bring the organization back to its peak are not actually the EF, but ConsenSys (or similar third-party organizations)."

Vitalik emphasized that the EF should not "act in a moderate way", but should confidently represent the Ethereum features that it can effectively represent, and intentionally create and nurture open spaces for other organizations to represent other aspects of Ethereum. Some of these aspects may be more suitable to exist in a for-profit form.

These comments came amid calls for the Ethereum Foundation's former researcher and developer, Danny Ryan, to be promoted. Danny Ryan is widely praised for his important contributions to the transition of Ethereum from Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake. However, after seven years of working at the Ethereum Foundation, Danny Ryan announced his departure in 2024 for personal reasons, which has been a source of great regret for many supporters.

Ryan's supporters believe that his professional capabilities are consistent with Ethereum's long-term goals, making him a strong candidate for a leadership role, despite Vitalik's insistence on maintaining control over the foundation's decision-making.

Meanwhile, since taking on the position in 2018, Executive Director Aya Miyaguchi has faced criticism and even online harassment from some community members on the X platform, with some blaming the foundation's internal inefficiency on her, and some complaining about the Cancun upgrade not meeting expectations. Prior to 2018, Aya Miyaguchi was responsible for the Japanese region's operations at the Kraken exchange platform.

The well-known cryptocurrency trader CoinMamba (known for his criticism of the Ethereum Foundation) publicly called for Miyaguchi's resignation. Vitalik firmly rejected this proposal. Vitalik also pointed out the comments of several other X users, calling them "pure evil" because these comments contained vulgar memes, calls for bullying Aya, and even "kill Aya" statements.

Nevertheless, market commentator abstractXBT expressed concerns about the centralized nature of this tough stance. They suggested that the foundation should focus more on practical solutions, such as increasing support for developers through hackathons and funding, rather than getting caught up in philosophical debates about leadership.

The Ethereum Foundation is undergoing a "large-scale reform of the leadership structure"

Earlier, on January 18, Vitalik Buterin faced the controversy and wrote that the Ethereum Foundation is currently undergoing a large-scale reform of the leadership structure, which has been ongoing for nearly a year. Some of the reforms have been implemented and announced, while others are still in progress.

The reform aims to achieve the following goals:

• Improve the technical expertise of the Ethereum Foundation's leadership;

• Improve the two-way communication and connection between the Ethereum Foundation's leadership and the new and old participants in the ecosystem. The Ethereum Foundation's responsibility is to support: users (individuals and institutions), application developers, wallets, L2;

• Introduce new talent to improve execution capability and speed;

• More actively support application developers, ensuring that important values and inalienable rights (especially privacy, open source, resistance to censorship) are a reality for users, including at the application layer;

• Continue to increase the use of decentralized and privacy technologies, as well as the Ethereum chain, including for payments and financial management.

Vitalik also explicitly stated that there will be no ideological/atmospheric transformation in the future; there will be no active lobbying of regulators and powerful politicians (especially in the US, but actually anywhere, especially in major countries), risking damage to Ethereum's position as a global neutral platform; it will not become an arena for vested interests; it will not become a highly centralized organization, not even the "protagonist" of Ethereum.

The Foundation is stuck in selling coins, or has already made changes to participate in DeFi

The Ethereum Foundation's financial operations, especially its continuous on-chain sales of ETH, have recently become a focus of criticism in the community. According to Spot On Chain data, the Ethereum Foundation had its first Ethereum sale of the new year on January 8, 2025, selling 100 ETH and receiving 329,463 DAI tokens. On-chain data shows that in 2024 alone, the EF sold a total of 4,466 ETH, generating $12.61 million at an average price of $2,823. Many KOLs and investors in the community have attributed the decline in ETH price to the foundation's sales.

Vitalik responded that there are two reasons why the foundation has not chosen to stake ETH: the first is regulatory concerns. Given that Ethereum is one of the largest crypto protocols by market cap, staking a large amount of ETH could potentially trigger unnecessary regulatory scrutiny. Such actions could raise questions about whether Ethereum constitutes a security, a problem many crypto companies have faced for years.

The second reason is that staking ETH could be perceived as "taking a stance on any future contentious hard forks". In this case, Buterin was referring to potential divisions within the ecosystem, which could lead one side of the community to prefer a certain blockchain version over another. If the foundation chooses to stake its tokens on one chain rather than another, it would appear that the foundation is supporting that chain. Vitalik Buterin acknowledged that while the regulatory concerns have eased over the years, the second reason still exists.

He also explained that withdrawing ETH may be more time-consuming than directly selling the tokens. This is usually due to the large number of validators using the chain. Therefore, if only the foundation is performing ETH withdrawals, the process would take 2.6 days to complete.

Despite Vitalik's tough stance, the foundation he influences has apparently heeded some suggestions. On January 21, the Ethereum Foundation announced the establishment of a wallet address to start participating in decentralized finance (DeFi). The organization plans to inject around $150 million worth of ETH into this wallet, but noted that it may take several days to complete the setup.

Hsiao-Wei Wang, who was recently appointed to a leadership role at the foundation, posted on X: "The Ethereum Foundation has set up a new 5-of-3 multi-signature wallet... We have initiated the operation to send 50,000 ETH to this wallet, but please be patient; due to signature delays, this will take several days to process, and the Ethereum Foundation will use this new wallet to participate in the DeFi ecosystem."

The community jokingly establishes a "Second Foundation", calling for the Foundation to be more transparent

Regarding the controversy, on January 22, Lido co-founder and P2P.org founder Konstantin Lomashuk reposted a post hinting at the establishment of a "Second Foundation". However, he later clarified that "in fact, the second foundation has not yet been established." He continued to write: "Ethereum is the ultimate world computer, and every Ethereum enthusiast can help it grow, evolve and succeed. If the second foundation is really established, it must have a clear goal to complement the great work of the current contributors. I thank everyone for their support and believe that we need more organizations to contribute to Ethereum."

Some Ethereum core developers have also voiced their opinions, with some even withdrawing due to disappointment. On January 22, Ethereum core developer and EIP-1559 co-author Eric Conner posted on the X platform, saying: "I am no longer a .eth (Ethereum domain name) member. Perhaps one day those leaders will realign with the community, but for now, I have left. Deep down, I truly hope Ethereum will succeed. Good luck."

Ethereum founding member Anthony DOnofrio also published a commentary article on CoinDesk, titled "The Ethereum Foundation Has Lost Its Way". The article calls for a leadership change in the Ethereum Foundation. He stated: "To ensure its future, the Ethereum Foundation must transform from a passive institution to an active visionary driver." DOnofrio pointed out that the Ethereum Foundation is a contradiction; although it is committed to decentralization, its mode of operation is centralized, with directors, finance departments, paid developers, and inner circles; these structures, although necessary for coordination, conflict with Ethereum's decentralization ideology.

He pointed out that in its current form, the Ethereum Foundation aims to minimize internal and external threats, but has lost its original vision. The next stage of Ethereum requires not only technical research and coordination meetings. It needs visionary leadership - someone who not only understands the technology, but also its broader social, philosophical and political implications.

Furthermore, DOnofrio called on the Ethereum Foundation to provide more transparency and strengthen its connection with the community, and in the current favorable political climate in the United States, seize the opportunity to engage with legislators, and while maintaining political neutrality, the Foundation can create or promote frameworks that encourage compliance and innovation.

Santiment's analyst Brianq was more optimistic, stating that although Ethereum (ETH) has recently seen a 4.7% drop in market capitalization, far behind the 36.9% and 32.2% increases of XRP and Solana, triggering market controversy over Vitalik Buterin's ETH sell-off, decentralization, and modular strategy, the short-term pressure, the growth in Ethereum's active addresses and stable market share are considered to be beneficial for its long-term strategic position as a leading blockchain. The surge in negative sentiment on social media may provide opportunities for contrarian investors.

At the same time, Ethereum co-founder and Consensys founder Joseph Lubin wrote: "One of Vitalik Buterin's greatest traits is his decision-making process. When problems arise, he listens and gathers information, weighs all factors, and makes decisions when he believes he has weighed most of the necessary data. The best way forward is to recognize that he has heard all of our voices, and things are progressing. Threatening, harming or attempting to coerce is deeply disturbing and counterproductive. The Ethereum Foundation (EF), Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) and Consensys have multiple ongoing projects that will reshape how Ethereum 'goes to market' in the near future. From what I've seen, many high-value plans will be unveiled soon, enough to make your head spin. It's best to stay calm and not lose your mind before the wave begins."

Currently, from Vitalik's response to the controversy to the Foundation's announcement of major reforms, the Ethereum Foundation is facing a debate on various aspects such as power structure, decentralization, and financial management. As the reforms progress, how the Foundation balances the interests of all parties and promotes the development of the Ethereum ecosystem on the basis of ensuring the decentralization concept will be the key to future development.