Due to the continued lackluster performance of the ETH price in this market cycle, coupled with the uninterrupted outflow of the Ethereum Foundation (EF) and its inability to effectively promote ecosystem innovation, the community has erupted in dissatisfaction with the Ethereum Foundation, triggering a wave of calls for the resignation of the former Ethereum Foundation Executive Director Aya Miyaguchi.
Facing immense community pressure and both internal and external challenges for Ethereum, Ethereum co-founder "V God" Vitalik Buterin, in the face of the announcement in January to make major reforms to the Ethereum Foundation's leadership structure.
This week, the Ethereum Foundation has finally announced a series of reform initiatives and personnel adjustments. But the community seems to be reacting in two extremes, and the negative criticism has not yet been dispelled. ETH's recent price has also shown a noticeable upward trend.
Ethereum Foundation's Aya Miyaguchi 'Promoted' to Chair, Accused of Changing Nothing
On February 25, Aya Miyaguchi announced that she will be transitioning from her role as Executive Director of the Ethereum Foundation to Chair, focusing on strengthening the Foundation's institutional relationships and re-examining Ethereum's decentralization ethos, particularly in light of the recent discussions around network performance and ETH market value, where Ethereum's advantage lies in its permissionless nature, and open discussion can promote system resilience rather than cause division.
Although her "promotion" was endorsed by Vitalik, many Ethereum community members have been firing away at this decision: "So everyone wants her to leave, but you're giving her a promotion? "Isn't it that no one likes her? You're still letting her be the chair? ETH is doomed."
Demir C Labs partner earlier criticized that many OGs in the community question this change as "changing nothing", unable to thoroughly address the Foundation's low efficiency or lack of communication with the community. He also compared Miyaguchi's credentials with Solana Foundation Chair Lily.
Miyaguchi has always advocated for the participation of women and minorities in blockchain technology development, and has pushed for the transition of Ethereum from POW to POS for environmental protection, while also encouraging an inclusive and non-competitive atmosphere.Therefore, she has always been seen as a typical "progressive liberal" style, leading to Ethereum being filled with formalism and waste of resources, rather than focusing on core technical progress.
Some also believe that although the two new Executive Directors are nominally under the leadership of Miyaguchi as the new Chair, she is actually being demoted and relegated to the background.
Appointment of Two New Executive Directors
Notably, today (March 2), the Ethereum Foundation announced new leadership changes, appointing two new Executive Directors: Hsiao-Wei Wang and Tomasz Stańczak, who will assume their roles starting March 17.
According to the official introduction, Hsiao-Wei Wang has been a core researcher at the Ethereum Foundation for seven years, having worked in multiple research areas, and is a key contributor to the Ethereum Beacon Chain. She has also been actively involved in community building, hosting high-quality and successful events with the Taiwanese Ethereum community on multiple occasions.
Tomasz Stańczak has led the team in building the Nethermind execution client, which has grown to become one of the largest client implementations in the Ethereum ecosystem and has successfully expanded from a project to a thriving global company.
The Foundation previewed that under the leadership of the two new Executive Directors: "Over the next few years, the Ethereum ecosystem will undergo a transformative change, from an early-stage project serving a small group of enthusiasts, to a powerful, permissionless, and censorship-resistant global financial and software stack foundation."
Silviculture Society, an External Advisory Group for Ethereum
The Ethereum Foundation announced on Friday the establishment of the "Silviculture Society", a group of external individual advisors to the Foundation, to provide informal advice to ensure the Foundation maintains its core values of being open-source, private, secure, and censorship-resistant.
The group currently consists of 15 blockchain experts from diverse backgrounds, including Golem Foundation co-founder Julian Zawistowski and cryptography professor Matthew Green, and these advisors are said to serve a one-year term without compensation.
However, based on the comments below, the majority of the community seems unconvinced, questioning why the EF chose these particular individuals as external advisors.
I hope the EF will have less "horticulture" (a jibe at Silviculture) and more architecture. ETH needs leadership, not poetry. At this moment, it's really sad.
Vitalik: Ethereum Needs a Lot of Young Blood with a Cypherpunk Vision
On the other hand, Danny Ryan, a former EF researcher who announced his departure last September after 7 years of contributions to Ethereum, has announced his return to the Ethereum ecosystem. He will be joining as a co-founder of Etherealize to help the real world join Ethereum.
Ryan previously served as the chief coordinator for Ethereum's The Merge upgrade, overseeing the transition from PoW to PoS, and made significant contributions to the progress of Ethereum improvement proposals. His return has been welcomed by the Ethereum community.
While welcoming Hsiao-Wei Wang and Tomasz Stańczak to their new roles, as well as Danny Ryan's return, Vitalik also lamented the mid-life crisis, stating that the Ethereum community urgently needs young blood with the same cypherpunk vision:
What Ethereum needs is a massive influx of young people with the same cypherpunk vision. All the OGs are tired. It's time for the next generation now.
CryptoQuant Founder: Ethereum May Have Internal Issues, Team May Not Trust Leadership
Regarding Vitalik's statement that Ethereum needs to inject young blood, CryptoQuant founder Ki Young Ju shared a post (which seems to have been deleted) on X platform, stating:
Ethereum is facing risks, and Ethereum's leadership does not respect the team.
The team may also not trust the leadership. Skilled developers are developing elsewhere.
Ethereum's leaders want to exit, but there is no clear successor.
Vitalik's statement reveals that Ethereum has internal problems.
In contrast to the many community members and industry experts who remain pessimistic about Ethereum's prospects, Ethereum core developer Tim Beiko has reassured the community:
If we play our cards right, we will look back on today as one of the most pivotal moments in Ethereum's history.
It's no exaggeration to say the past few months have been turbulent. Clearly, for Ethereum to succeed, a lot needs to change, but in pursuit of maximum optimization, it's easy to overcorrect and stifle the magic. This week's announcements give me confidence we've found the right balance between these two extremes.
