On January 21, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin responded to mounting online criticism of the Ethereum Foundation’s (EF) leadership, particularly its executive director, Aya Miyaguchi.
In a strongly worded post on X (formerly Twitter), Buterin made it clear that he alone is responsible for decisions regarding EF leadership and warned that continued social media pressure is “creating an environment that is actively toxic to top talent”.
No. This is not how this game works.
The person deciding the new EF leadership team is me. One of the goals of the ongoing reform is to give the EF a “proper board”, but until that happens it’s me.
If you “keep the pressure on”, then you are creating an environment that is…
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) January 21, 2025
Vitalik Buterin’s Strong Rebuttal
The controversy started during the ongoing discussion about the Ethereum Foundation’s leadership structure. Critics, including prominent voices in the Ethereum community, have called for changes. They have raised questions about Miyaguchi’s leadership approach, citing her inefficiencies. Some people have crossed all limits and given death threats, which is pure evil.
Pure evil. pic.twitter.com/mzCmOteu5r
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) January 21, 2025
The online troll of Miyaguchi also included a direct call for her resignation, with some claiming that influential figures within the Ethereum space had previously staged leadership changes. A under the alias Tetranode suggested they had played a role in forcing out past EF .
In response, Vitalik Buterin slammed the campaign, calling it a toxic approach. He stated, “No. This is not how this game works. The person deciding the new EF leadership team is me. One of the goals of the ongoing reform is to give the EF a “proper board”, but until that happens it’s me.”
Buterin warned that the targeted attacks on Miyaguchi and other EF executives were making it harder for Ethereum to retain top talent. He revealed that some of Ethereum’s best developers had privately expressed their discontent over the hostile online environment.
Earlier, Vitalik revealed his plan to restructure the Ethereum Foundation. He shared the primary objectives of the leadership overhaul, which has been in progress for nearly a year. These goals include:
- Enhancing technical expertise within EF leadership.
- Strengthening communication between EF and the broader Ethereum ecosystem.
- Bringing in fresh talent to improve execution and agility.
- ing app developers while reinforcing Ethereum’s core values such as privacy, open-source development, and censorship resistance.
- Expanding Ethereum’s use of decentralized and privacy-preserving technologies.
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