Dẫn chuyện với Chủ tịch Quỹ Cộng đồng Ethereum: EF có nên chịu trách nhiệm về giá ETH không?

Edited & Compiled by: Odaily TechFlow

Guests: Zak Cole (Chairman of the Ethereum Community Fund), 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

Airdate: May 26, 2026

Editor's Introduction

The core contradiction for Ethereum today is not just the EF (Ethereum Foundation) "downsizing" or high-level departures, but the misalignment of responsibilities between ETH as an asset, Ethereum as public infrastructure, and the EF as a coordination hub.

Zak Cole (Chairman of the Ethereum Community Fund) 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 the more radical "ETH asset value" camp, the other the engineering and infrastructure perspective. Their differences also reveal the underlying tension of this conversation: Should Ethereum continue as a values-driven cypherpunk network, or must it, like a mature company, acknowledge price, governance, ecosystem cooperation, and competition?

The most valuable aspect of this conversation is that it weaves 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's liquidation of his ETH, Dankrad Feist's proposal to establish another billion-dollar organization, and the diversion of on-chain revenue by 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 but a mature and vast ecosystem with tens of 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 a contentious fork occurs, Circle and Tether will most likely follow the chain the EF chooses. The reality makes the EF the de facto center."
• "There's no shame in admitting responsibility. On the contrary, I hope the EF truly takes responsibility, diversifies its board, and brings in people who understand products, business, markets, and communication."
• "An organization can be professional, clear, and scalable while still adhering to principles of censorship resistance, openness, privacy, and security."

Price is Not 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 that economics might matter. ETH's monetary premium itself is the mechanism for attracting users, creating security, and generating 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 uphold CROPS values. The problem is it doesn't use ETH and the ETH price as tools to advance these principles."

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

• "Personnel turnover in a mature organization isn't surprising, unless these people start migrating en masse to other ecosystems. For now, it seems most will continue working within the Ethereum ecosystem."
• "Bastian might be a great person, but for someone in a central position at Ethereum, the outside world hardly knows who he is or why he can make these major decisions."
• "If important EF employees are indeed responsible for large projects, but even deeply involved people in the ecosystem 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

• "Past cycles had so-called ETH killers, but many were vaporware. The issue now is that someone has finally built a car that looks cooler and is also faster."
• "The EF can't be completely unaware that competitors like Solana, Tron, and Hyperliquid are grabbing revenue and users, but many people there might not 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 also lose the opportunity to win in the long term."

A Smaller Foundation is Fine, 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 an internal promotion and old-boy network. It should include external people from different fields like DeFi, open-source, institutions, product, and communication."
• "Ethereum needs to increase its surface area for luck. Winning requires many factors, including luck. Expanding your reach is itself a way to improve the odds."

Recent Turmoil in the Ethereum Community

Laura Shin: Over the past week, the Ethereum community has been in turmoil due to the departure of several foundation members, especially some senior members, causing concern. Around the same time, David Hoffman, co-host of Bankless (an Ethereum-focused crypto media and podcast), announced the sale of his remaining ETH. ETH is currently around $2,100, having been near $5,000 last summer and fall.

On Sunday, Vitalik stated that '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 been worried that Ethereum is losing ground to other chains. These concerns were somewhat alleviated in 2025 when Tomasz Stańczak was appointed as EF's co-executive director, but he left after 11 months. Now, the community feels that Vitalik and the EF seem to be reverting to old patterns, the very patterns that caused significant anxiety before. Before diving into the details of each event, I'd like to get your general take on this turmoil. Zak, you first.

Zak Cole: I've been beating this drum for a long time, repeatedly criticizing the EF's performance and its attitude towards the broader ecosystem. I feel they took a few steps in the right direction, but now it seems like they've taken some back. Overall, though, sentiment towards the EF is almost directly correlated with the ETH price. If ETH were still at $5,000, I don't think many people would be complaining about what the EF is doing or not doing.

So, I don't want to be overly harsh on the EF. A lot of the sentiment stems from price action, 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 seen as part of network security. I just think a large part of this is likely just bear market sentiment.

Laura Shin: Greg, what's your take?

Greg Markou: I also think the bear market and current price definitely influence the overall mood. However, I'd also argue that the EF has matured quite a bit since Tomasz came in. There was a lot of turmoil within the foundation and the community at that time, with Danny Ryan seen as a possible leader. Tomasz at least tried to recalibrate where the EF should be focusing.

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

But after Tomasz left, things have shifted a bit towards this current state. Overall, I still feel things are moving in a positive direction. Vitalik's post yesterday even slightly changed my perspective.

Laura Shin: When you say things are moving in a positive direction, what specifically do you mean?

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

Zak Cole: My concern is that we've heard this before. They let Tomasz try, and it went poorly. Now, it seems they want to go back to what they're familiar with: endlessly talking about infinite gardens, funding longevity research, and doing things that nobody cares about except Vitalik and his inner circle. Let me be direct: the EF is completely out of touch.

Of course, after I criticize them, I can also say that at least they admit other organizations need to step up. But the question is whether they are genuinely willing to cede power to organizations that are more capable and grounded. Ethereum is no longer a startup; it's a mature, resilient ecosystem. You can't be as capricious as you were six or ten years ago. There are tens of billions or trillions of dollars of value riding on it, and 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 mentioned earlier that many of the recent departures from the EF are senior and well-known community members. To me, that's not optimistic; it's concerning. But it sounds like you're less worried. 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? Basically within three months?

Zak Cole: I'm not saying it's optimistic. I'm just saying it could be a sign of ecosystem maturation. It could also be the EF regressing from the approach Tomasz was implementing. I don't know. Regardless, the ecosystem itself is growing. If these people disagree with the direction inside the EF, it might be better for them to leave and start their own things. I believe they will continue working within the Ethereum ecosystem, at least I hope so. It's hard to judge the long-term outcome now because I haven't spoken to them and don't know what they're thinking.

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. – people the community knows well.

Zak Cole: They are indeed well-known. But with respect to their past contributions, I just want to ask: what have they done specifically recently? What have they contributed to the EF and the broader ecosystem lately?

Laura Shin: Maybe their work isn't always attributed. Are you saying you don't think they're that important?

Zak Cole: I'm not saying they're unimportant. I just feel they've somewhat achieved 'tenure' status and started working on passion projects. If they are genuinely responsible for major initiatives and projects, then that might be another failure of the EF – it hasn't communicated to the outside world what these people are 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 tell you what they're doing, besides Trent with Protocol Guild (a mechanism to fund Ethereum protocol contributors), then the EF has failed in showcasing and explaining its work.

Laura Shin: Greg, your thoughts?

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

My gut feeling is this isn't like Max Resnick's very public departure from Ethereum to the Solana camp. From what I've heard, most people will continue to work on Ethereum, just not within the EF. This looks more like healthy churn. We should only be worried if the organization enters a negative spiral and everyone gets poached by other ecosystems.

If they start building on Solana, then we should worry. Peter Szilagyi's departure last year is another example. His output decreased over six to twelve months; he was maybe doing one or two PRs a month, and eventually left naturally. Maybe I'm undervaluing his contribution, but it felt like natural flow. This group hasn't seen that kind of sharp exit yet.

Laura Shin: What about Tomasz's departure? He came in just 11 months ago, as a response to community demands for change and dissatisfaction. He was very popular, praised across the timeline. He was open and spoke to as many builders as possible, so his quick exit is shocking. The community feels it signals the EF is going back to not listening. Why do you think it happened?

Zak Cole: I believe the EF succumbed to community pressure and put Tomasz in that position, but it didn't truly want to give up control. He was still just a co-executive director alongside Hsiao-Wei Wang, so he didn't have the full freedom to implement real organizational change. When he tried to push those changes, I think 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 seen. Then the EF released a so-called mandate document with a visual style like something from DeviantArt. It could have been a simple, clear blog post explaining the CROPS principles, but they chose to make it look like a comic book manifesto. This makes me very pessimistic. I don't want an organization responsible for my children's financial future putting out something like this.

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

Zak Cole: Let me be direct: Tomasz would never 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 a financial future, that institutions would feel comfortable putting money into it. They also say things like 'if we fail, may the EF fall on its own sword'. The weird design is one thing, but the copy itself is equally out of touch.

Laura Shin: You're talking about the little comic at the bottom of page 11, right? It's indeed quite crazy.

Let's jump to Vitalik's Sunday post, because one point bothered me. He said Bastian is leading this transformation of the EF. Do you think this mandate document came from Bastian, or from Vitalik? Or