The Swiss-registered entity promotes the interests of the cryptoproject and coordinates the work of researchers and developers.
Buterin named the key goals pursued by personnel changes in the top management of the fund:
- increasing the level of technical competence;
- improving two-way communication with all ecosystem participants, both old and new;
- attracting new talent to improve “ability and speed of execution”;
- greater support for app developers focused on inherent values like privacy, open source, and censorship resistance;
- expanding the use of decentralized and privacy technologies and the Ethereum blockchain, including for payments and financial management.
At the same time, he outlined “clear non-goals” that EF will definitely not pursue:
- aggressively lobby regulators and politicians in large countries like the US, risking jeopardizing Ethereum's position as a global neutral platform;
- become an arena for someone else's vested interests;
- take on the role of the main “hero in the project”, transforming into a centralized structure.
"These things aren't what EF does and this isn't going to change. People seeking a different vision are welcome to start their own orgs." - Buterin said
As of this writing, the foundation's executive board includes EF CEO Aya Mayaguchi, Buterin and Patrick Storchenegger.
The names of the candidates for the Ethereum Foundation have already been announced
Throughout 2024 the organization was criticized on various grounds. Among other things, the claims concerned the tendency of network development towards centralization and “skewing” in favor of L2 solutions, periodic sales of ETH reserves and losing the competition with Solana.
Jerome de Tisci, President of Ethereum France, systematized the critical opinions regarding EF's activities and formulated recommendations.
In his opinion, the organization should:
- more actively communicate achievements and funding problems to the community;
- increase transparency of costs and organizational structure, ensuring long-term sustainability and active treasury management;
- return to a simple narrative of Ethereum as a “world computer” using ETH;
- strengthen presence in cryptocurrency-friendly jurisdictions with top-down initiatives targeting institutionalized investors;
- expand the ecosystem by capitalizing on the success of L2 solutions and positioning the network as a foundation for blockchain innovation.
"The strength of Ethereum lies in its ability to adapt and thrive through collaboration. Together, we will shape the next chapter and make the ecosystem even stronger," stated de Tisci
Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin retweeted his essentially programmatic post, confirming that they had discussed the EF transformation.
Lubin thanked the organization's current CEO, Mayaguchi, for stabilizing the project during a difficult period, giving its development a “healthy trajectory” and for “everything she has done over the years”.
“We are now in a radically different environment in our industry. And it requires a very different kind of EF,” wrote the founder and head of ConsenSys.
The entrepreneur suggested replacing Mayaguchi with two co-CEOs - de Tisci and ex-Ethereum researcher Danny Ryan. As for the latter, Lubin noted the candidate's strong technical skills.
“I believe a partnership between Jerome and Danny would be a powerful injection of energy, talent, out-of-the-box thinking, marketing creativity and drive for EF's leadership - exactly what the Ethereum community needs today,” he emphasized.
In November 2024, Buterin during a speech at the Devcon 2024 conference spoke about the prospects for the development of the second most capitalized cryptocurrency.
