A Conversation with the Chair of the Ethereum Foundation Community: Should the EF Be Responsible for ETH’s Price?

Compiled & Edited by: Odaily TechFlow

Guests: Zak Cole (President of the Ethereum Community Foundation), Greg Markou (Co-founder & CEO of Sprinter, Co-founder of ChainSafe)

Host: Laura Shin

Original Title: The EF Is Shrinking. What Does It Mean for Ethereum and ETH?

Podcast Source: Unchained

Release Date: May 26, 2026

Editor's Introduction

The core contradiction facing Ethereum today isn't just the EF (Ethereum Foundation) "downsizing" or senior departures, but the misalignment of responsibilities and authorities among ETH as an asset, Ethereum as public infrastructure, and the EF as a coordination hub.

Zak Cole (President of the Ethereum Community Foundation) and Greg Markou (Co-founder & CEO of Sprinter, Co-founder of ChainSafe) have both been building within the Ethereum ecosystem for a long time. One represents a more radical "ETH asset value" perspective, the other an engineering and infrastructure viewpoint. Their divergence perfectly reveals the underlying tension of this conversation: should Ethereum continue as a value-driven cypherpunk network, or must it recognize price, governance, ecosystem collaboration, and competition like a mature company?

The most valuable part of this conversation is that it ties together Vitalik's statement that "EF will be a smaller ship," the CROPS values (Censorship Resistance, Open Source, Privacy & Security), senior employee departures, David Hoffman liquidating his ETH, Dankrad Feist's proposal to create another billion-dollar organization, and the diversion of on-chain revenue to Solana, Tron, and Hyperliquid, into a single thread of discussion.

Key Quotes

Ethereum Is No Longer an Early-Stage Startup

• "Ethereum is no longer a startup project. It's a mature and vast ecosystem with billions or even trillions of dollars at stake. Many people's careers and livelihoods depend on it."
• "The EF says it's not the center, but if there's a contentious fork, Circle and Tether will likely follow the chain the EF chooses. The outcome makes the EF the de facto center."
• "There's no shame in admitting responsibility. On the contrary, I wish the EF would truly take responsibility, diversify its board, and bring in people who understand products, companies, markets, and communications."
• "An organization can be professional, clear, and scalable while still upholding principles like censorship resistance, openness, privacy, and security."

Price Isn't Noise; It's Part of Security

• "After transitioning to PoS, the value of ETH is part of network security. The lower the ETH price, the lower the network security."
• "You can't build an economic system and then, a decade later, say maybe economics is important. The monetary premium of ETH itself is a mechanism to attract users, create security, and generate value."
• "If there's a scoreboard on the field, it means you're in a game where scores matter. If a team doesn't care about winning, it should go back to the playground."
• "It's not that the EF can't adhere to CROPS values. The problem is that it hasn't used ETH and the ETH price as tools to advance these principles."

The Real Issue Isn't Departures, but Who Makes Decisions

• "Staff turnover in a mature organization isn't surprising, unless these people start collectively moving to other ecosystems. So far, most seem likely to continue working within the Ethereum ecosystem."
• "Bastian might be a great person, but for someone in a central position at Ethereum, the outside world barely knows who he is or why he can make these significant decisions."
• "If key EF employees are indeed leading major projects, but even deeply involved ecosystem participants don't know what they're doing, that's also a failure of the EF to communicate clearly."

Ethereum Isn't Facing the Next Round of 'ETH Killer' Noise

• "Every past cycle had so-called ETH killers, but many were vaporware. The problem now is that someone has finally built a car that looks cooler and is also faster."
• "It's impossible the EF is completely unaware that competitors like Solana, Tron, and Hyperliquid are grabbing revenue and users, but many people there probably don't truly care."
• "CROPS might win in the long run, but it might not win in the short term. The problem is, if you lose in the short term, you might lose the opportunity to win in the long term."

A Smaller Foundation is Possible, but the Board Can't Be Like a Family Business

• "The EF can continue to shrink and focus on research, but it must delegate much of the execution to external organizations better suited for it."
• "The board shouldn't be a system of internal promotions and old boys' network. It should bring in external people from diverse fields like DeFi, open source, institutions, product development, and communications."
• "Ethereum needs to increase its surface area for good luck. Winning requires many factors, including luck. Expanding that surface area is itself a way to increase the odds of success."

Recent Turmoil in the Ethereum Community

Laura Shin: The past week has seen turmoil in the Ethereum community due to the departures of several foundation members, especially senior ones, raising concerns. Meanwhile, David Hoffman, co-host of Bankless (an Ethereum-focused crypto media and podcast), announced he sold his last ETH. ETH is currently around $2100, having neared $5000 last summer and fall.

On Sunday, Vitalik stated "EF will be a smaller ship" and reiterated that Ethereum's CROPS values are its guiding principles. CROPS stands for Censorship Resistance, Open Source/Openness, Privacy, and Security.

The community has long feared Ethereum is losing to other chains. These concerns eased somewhat in 2025 when Tomasz Stańczak was appointed as co-executive director of the EF, but he left after 11 months. Now, the community feels Vitalik and the EF seem to be reverting to old patterns that previously caused significant anxiety. Before diving into the details of each event, I want to hear your overall take on this situation. Zak, you first.

Zak Cole: I've been beating this drum for a while, repeatedly criticizing the EF's performance and its attitude towards the broader ecosystem. I think they took a few steps in the right direction, but now it feels like they've backtracked. Overall, though, the sentiment towards the EF is almost directly correlated with the ETH price. If ETH were still at $5000, I don't think nearly as many people would complain about what the EF is or isn't doing.

So I don't want to be too harsh on the EF. A lot of the sentiment comes from price performance, which isn't entirely within the EF's control. Of course, I'm not saying the EF shouldn't consider price, or that price shouldn't be viewed as part of network security. I just think a large part of this is simply bear market sentiment.

Laura Shin: Greg, what's your take?

Greg Markou: I also think the bear market and current price definitely affect overall sentiment. However, I'd also argue that since Tomasz came into the EF, the organization has matured considerably. There was a lot of turmoil internally and in the community when Danny Ryan was also seen as a potential leader. Tomasz at least tried to recalibrate the EF's focus.

Now he's left, and others are leaving too. It's a complex situation. Many of those leaving had been at the EF for four, five, six years. They might just need a break, want a change of direction, or want to pursue something else. Overall, the EF made several moves towards maturity, trimmed some things the community had long complained about, and improved transparency. As for the recent news around CROPS, I think there's some validity to it.

But after Tomasz left, things did shift somewhat to this current state. Overall, I still feel things are moving in a positive direction. Vitalik's post yesterday even slightly shifted my perspective.

Laura Shin: You say things are moving positively. What specifically do you mean?

Greg Markou: I mean the EF is starting to realize it needs to mature, understand where its priorities should be, and recognize it must rely on other teams to hold the line in certain areas.

Zak Cole: My concern is that we've heard this before. They gave Tomasz a try, and it went badly. Now it seems they want to retreat to what they're comfortable with: endlessly talking about infinite gardens, funding longevity research, and doing things nobody cares about except Vitalik and his small circle. To put it bluntly, the EF is completely out of touch with reality.

Of course, after criticizing them, I can say at least they acknowledge other organizations need to step up. But the question is whether they truly are willing to cede power to organizations that are more capable and grounded. Ethereum is no longer a startup project; it's a mature, robust ecosystem. You can't operate it capriciously like you could six or ten years ago. There are hundreds of billions or even trillions of dollars riding on it. Many people's livelihoods depend on it. My entire career is built on Ethereum. If it fails, what do I do?

Laura Shin: You both touched on this: many of those recently departing the EF are senior and very well-known in the community. To me, that doesn't seem optimistic; it's worrying. But it sounds like you're less concerned. How do you see it? To me, several of them are true Ethereum evangelists.

Zak Cole: I don't find it particularly concerning. Mature organizations have turnover, and these people have been there a long time.

Laura Shin: Even if they all happened after Tomasz left? Essentially within three months?

Zak Cole: I'm not saying it's optimistic. I'm just saying it could be a sign of ecosystem maturation. Or maybe it's not the EF maturing, but the EF regressing from Tomasz's approach. I don't know. Regardless, the ecosystem itself is growing. If these people's direction didn't align with the EF's, perhaps it's better they leave and work on their own things. I believe they'll continue to contribute to the Ethereum ecosystem, at least I hope so. It's hard to judge the long-term outcome now because I haven't spoken with them and don't know their thoughts.

Laura Shin: I didn't list names earlier, but this includes Tim Beiko, Barnabé Monnot, Josh Stark, Trent Van Epps, Carl Beekhuizen, Julian Mauduit, etc. These are all familiar figures in the community.

Zak Cole: They are indeed well-known. With all due respect for their past contributions, I have to ask: what exactly have they done recently? What have they contributed to the EF and the broader ecosystem lately?

Laura Shin: Perhaps not every piece of their work is publicly attributed. Are you saying you don't think they're that important?

Zak Cole: I'm not saying they're unimportant. I just think, to some extent, they might have achieved a kind of 'tenure' and started working on passion projects. If they *are* leading major initiatives and projects, then perhaps it's another EF failure for not communicating to the outside world what these people are actually leading.

Personally, I don't know what the EF is doing, what each employee is doing, or what the board is doing. I only know what Vitalik says, and that's about it. As someone deeply involved in the ecosystem, if I can't articulate what they're doing—aside from Trent working on Protocol Guild—it means the EF has failed in showcasing and explaining its work.

Laura Shin: Greg, what's your perspective?

Greg Markou: It's not optimistic, but I'm not at the point of being worried yet. Not unless we see these people start migrating en masse to other ecosystems.

My gut feeling is that this isn't like Max Resnick's very high-profile departure from Ethereum to the Solana camp. From what I've heard, most people will continue working on Ethereum, just not within the EF. This seems more like healthy churn. We should only really be concerned if an organization enters a negative spiral where everyone is being poached by other ecosystems.

If they started building on Solana, then I'd be worried. Peter Szilagyi's departure last year was another example. His output gradually declined over six to twelve months, maybe one or two PRs a month, and he eventually left naturally. Maybe I'm underestimating his contribution, but it felt like natural churn. This group hasn't had such an acrimonious exit yet.

Laura Shin: What about Tomasz's departure? He only came in 11 months ago, as a response to community demands for change and dissatisfaction. He was very popular, praised all over the timeline. He was open, willing to talk to as many builders as possible. So his quick departure was shocking. The community feels this means the EF is going back to ignoring the community. Why do you think it happened?

Zak Cole: I think the EF succumbed to community pressure to put Tomasz in that position, but never truly wanted to cede control. He was still only a co-executive director, sharing management with Hsiao-Wei Wang, so he didn't have the full freedom to implement real organizational changes. When he tried to push those changes, I believe he was pushed out because he didn't fit the EF's 'infinite garden' culture.

After he left, they replaced him with a mysterious figure, Bastian Aue, whom almost no one knows or has met. Then the EF released a so-called 'mandate' document with a visual style resembling something from DeviantArt. It could have been a clear blog post explaining the CROPS principles, but they turned it into something like a comic book manifesto. This makes me very pessimistic. I don't want an organization that affects my child's financial future to produce things like this.

Laura Shin: We should put it on screen for the audience. We were laughing at this document earlier. It certainly has a unique aesthetic and strange font choices.

Zak Cole: To be clear, Tomasz wouldn't have released something like this. Greg, I know you're trying to stay not pessimistic, but it's hard to look at this document and say it's suitable for carrying a financial future, that institutions will definitely feel comfortable putting money into it. They also say things like 'if we fail, may the EF fall on its sword'. The design is one thing, but the language is equally out of touch.

Laura Shin: You mean the small comic on the bottom of page 11, right? It is indeed crazy.

Let's skip ahead to Vitalik's Sunday post, because one point caught my attention. He said Bastian is leading this EF transformation. Do you think this mandate document came from Bastian, or from Vitalik? Or does it not matter?

Zak