Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has announced significant leadership changes within the Ethereum Foundation to enhance technical expertise and strengthen communication with developers in the Ethereum ecosystem. In a Jan. 18 post on X (formerly Twitter), Buterin outlined objectives such as supporting decentralized application developers and promoting decentralization, censorship resistance, and privacy.
Buterin emphasized that the Ethereum Foundation will refrain from political lobbying, ideological shifts, or assuming a more central role in Ethereum’s development. He stated, “People seeking a different vision are welcome to start their own organizations.”
These leadership changes follow a challenging year in 2024, during which the Foundation faced criticism regarding its spending, roadmap goals, and personnel decisions. In May 2024, the Foundation implemented a conflict of interest policy after several researchers accepted paid advisory roles at the EigenLayer Foundation, leading to community concerns.
Additionally, the March 2024 release of the Dencun upgrade resulted in a 99% reduction in transaction fees for Ethereum’s layer-2 networks, sparking debates about the impact on base layer revenues. Despite initial declines, network revenues rebounded to pre-Dencun levels by the end of the year.
