Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has announced significant leadership adjustments within the Ethereum Foundation to enhance technical expertise and collaboration with developers.
Goals of Ethereum Foundation Changes
In a January 18th post, Buterin outlined key goals, including supporting decentralized application developers and advocating for decentralization, censorship resistance, and privacy. He stressed that the Ethereum Foundation would avoid political lobbying or ideological agendas.
Foundation Criticism and Response
These changes follow a challenging year for the Foundation, facing criticism over spending, roadmap, and personnel decisions. In May 2024, the Foundation introduced a conflict of interest policy after notable researchers accepted paid advisory roles at the EigenLayer Foundation. Justin Drake and Dankrad Feist were involved, with the former apologizing and vowing to avoid such roles in the future.
Impact of Upgrades and Future Steps
In March 2024, Ethereum released the Dencun upgrade, which significantly reduced transaction fees for layer-2 networks. This led to a rapid increase in rollup solutions, despite concerns about base layer revenue. Data revealed a 99% decline in base layer revenues during the summer, eventually returning to previous levels by the year's end.
Ethereum's ongoing evolution is accompanied by leadership changes aimed at fostering technological growth and addressing contemporary challenges.
