‘Heated’ Ethereum Foundation Debate Signs the Need for Change – Joe Lubin

Ethereum founder Joe Lubin has backed calls to revive the Ethereum Foundation and said Consensys is ready to play a more active role.

He told Cointelegraph that the for-profit company has been hanging back to avoid undue influence on the blockchain, but that recent events “people still rely on us to market Ethereum and champion Ethereum.”

“So, that surprised me, but also excited me, because we're ready to raise our voices on this issue and compete strongly again.

The Ethereum community has been plagued by infighting over the past few weeks, with the slow progress of the blockchain roadmap and the plummeting price of Ether (ETH) fueled by a lack of leadership at the Ethereum Foundation.

Much of the online criticism has been aimed at CEO Aya Miyaguchi, who pushed to replace him with Ethereum researcher Danny Ryan.

When Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin said that leadership changes were coming soon, in 2016, He lashed out at trolls in a bombshell post on January 21, saying he's still the only person in charge of the Ethereum Foundation after a decade, and that the attacks on Miyaguchi are unlikely to yield.

Prominent Ethereum supporters, including EthHub founder Eric Conner and AntiProSynthesis, dropped their .eth handles in protest, although AntiProSynthesis responded on January 23rd.

“It's heating up because we're all worried,” Lubin said.

“But I think the community is identifying and clamoring for something that could be considered a problem or just a signal for change. So I think we need to shift to a different mode for the Ethereum ecosystem and the Ethereum Foundation.”

Lubin said that while the foundation's low-key approach was appropriate during the US Securities and Exchange Commission's war on crypto over the past two years, times have changed with the new administration and expected pro-crypto regulators.

But with a big travel brand, I think there's going to be something really hard to pursue anything — trying things, taking risks, moving really fast — and I think everything in our ecosystem needs a lot of energy. including the Ethereum Foundation,” he said.

Buterin calls on Consensys to raise

After Buterin decided not to commercialize Ethereum in 2014, consensus emerged as a profitable company to build Ethereum infrastructure and applications. Instead, he founded the non-profit Ethereum Foundation to guide his future direction and fund research.

2077 Consensus researcher Emmanuel Awosika says there has long been tension between Consensus as a for-profit company and an ideological foundation and researchers.

“The Ethereum people always talked about ‘capture,' and any company that tried to manipulate the protocol in some way was always frowned upon,” he said.

But on January 21, Buterin suggested that Consensys may need to improve:

“Maybe the original that some people want to improve and bring to new heights is not really EF, but @Consensys (or some third thing in the same category).”

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Lubin says he's ready and willing to help.

“I'm glad to hear that. So, for many years, we've gotten a lot of heat for being a prominent player in the Ethereum ecosystem,” he said.

“We're very happy that we've gotten to a point where we can't go back, where we can compete strongly with anyone else.”

He added that for Ethereum, “it is important to have connections for companies, countries” and that the foundation could provide some of the business-oriented Enterprise Ethereum Alliance.

Community reservation about the direction of EF

There is a concerted push in the community to replace the current director of the Ethereum Foundation, Miyaguchi, with the researcher who led the blockchain's transition to proof-of-concept.

Miyaguchi, a former high school teacher who joined Kraken, has largely flown under the radar since her appointment in February 2011. She describes herself in her X bio as the foundation's “exciting dreamer,” and says, “The world needs more shrinking.” “

She came under fire this week in an interview with Wired Japan in 2023, with the English version quoting her as wanting people to “be able to say ‘no' to the culture of competing and winning”. she said.

However, Cointelegraph independently confirmed that the original Japanese article did not contain that quote.

That said, in the original Japanese article, she said the foundation does not prioritize projects focused on making money.

“We want to support people as much as possible who are working hard to change the way society works, even if they don't have money in the first place. You can make money if you want, but EF doesn't need to support people like this and supporting them dilutes the message.

Her low-key approach may have helped Ethereum survive the SEC's investigation into the security of ETH after it was converted to a proof-of-stake. A strong leadership orientation from a centralized base controlled by Buterin—the largest known individual owner of ETH—may not have helped ETH's case in the Hawaii test.

Times change with Pro-Crypto Management's election.

Lubin officially endorsed Ryan and Etrem France President Jerome de Taichen as “partners to lead EF on two tracks of technical and commercial development.”

Ryan explained that in his discussion with Buterin, “EF may be entering a new era, not completely alienated from its previous strategy and philosophy, but evolving to meet the world as it is today and over the past decade.”

“Danny is amazing. I hope Lubin wants to step in and take the role.

“I don't think Danny wants to hold a conference. I don't think Danny wants to deal with requests to replace a ticket for someone who has lost their conference ticket. Danny is very useful on the technical side.”

The voting system for ETH holders to support Ryan has so far received 99.98% support with around 32,300 ETH in favor (about $106 million) and only 7 ETH against. The poll is far from scientific, but the site is hosted by votdannyryan.com.

Vibrant transition to the Bronze Age

One of Buterin's recent posts suggests that “major changes” to the leadership structure to improve technical expertise and relationships with ecosystem actors have been in the pipeline for about a year, and Miyaguchi said she was “excited to finally be able to share more news about this.” coming soon”

But Buterin added that the foundation won't lobby regulators and politicians or “do some sort of ideology/vibez pivot feminized wef soyboy mentality to a bronze age mentality.”

Ethereum co-founder Charles Hoskinson, who went on to found Cardano, scoffed at Buterin's post: “What I get from this post is that EF will continue to be a nexus of feminized weft soyboys.” age?”

Lubin may not be suffering from bronze age, but he certainly seems fired up for action. Lubin posted, echoing US President Donald Trump's famous words after the first assassination attempt on his life.

“Ethereum must fight fight fight! We all have to create the future.

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