- Veteran Ethereum developer Péter Szilágyi claims that Vitalik Buterin has indirect control over the Ethereum Foundation.
- A small group of people reportedly dominates new investments and advisory roles within the Foundation.
- The Foundation is accused of centralizing decision-making and limiting public involvement in project investments.
- Polygon founder Sandeep Nailwal criticizes the Foundation’s governance and questions his loyalty to Ethereum.
- Buterin acknowledges Polygon’s important role in the Ethereum ecosystem despite governance tensions.
Longtime developer Péter Szilágyi criticized the management of the Ethereum Foundation in a mid-2024 memo, alleging that Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, exerts indirect but full control over the nonprofit. Szilágyi described a “ruling elite who will never relinquish control,” highlighting the Foundation’s centralized governance.
Szilágyi, who has worked with the Foundation since 2015 and led the popular Geth software client for running Ethereum nodes, said Buterin’s focus and resources largely determine which projects succeed within the Ethereum ecosystem. “His attention, direction of research, brainpower, donations and investments absolutely define which projects succeed (at a very high probability),” Szilágyi wrote. He added that gaining Foundation support requires approval from about 5 to 10 key individuals closely linked to Buterin.
The developer also claimed the Foundation has moved away from its earlier strategy of publicly investing in new projects. Instead, it targets a small group of recurring investors and advisors, creating an interconnected network of projects backed by the same venture capitalists. Szilágyi stated, “You find the same exact people behind all the new projects launching, each project directly playing into each other’s hands.”
Reacting to Szilágyi’s memo, Sandeep Nailwal, CEO and founder of the Polygon Foundation, took to Twitter to express his frustrations with Ethereum’s governance. Nailwal questioned the direction of the Ethereum community and mentioned his own doubts about continued loyalty, despite his initial inspiration from Ethereum rather than Bitcoin. He also criticized the Ethereum Foundation’s decision to not officially recognize Polygon as a Layer-2 solution, which would provide security guarantees.
Vitalik Buterin subsequently responded, acknowledging Polygon‘s significant contributions and value to the Ethereum ecosystem. He expressed appreciation for both Nailwal’s personal efforts and Polygon’s role in Hosting notable projects such as Polymarket.
For more details, see the original mid-2024 memo, the Ethereum Foundation’s official site, and Nailwal’s tweet.
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