Executive Director to Step Down Amid Community Criticism

There’s been a shakeup in the leadership of the Ethereum Foundation with its Executive Director, Aya Miyaguchi, announcing in blog post yesterday that she’ll be stepping down from her role and will take up a new role as the foundation’s president. 

Miyaguchi had served as the foundation’s Executive Director since 2018, overseeing several important milestones for the Ethereum network including its transition from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake in 2022.

She said the new role of president would allow her to focus on nurturing the Ethereum Foundation’s “institutional relationships”:

This new opportunity will allow me to continue supporting EF’s institutional relationships, and to expand the reach of our vision and culture more broadly.

Aya Miyaguchi, Incoming President of the Ethereum Foundation

The leadership change follows a tough 12 months for Ethereum during which several of its rival layer 1s — most notably Solana — have seen significant growth, while Ethereum itself has seemed to flounder.

Related: ETH Gains Despite Expert Warning on ETF Inflows vs True Dominance

Miyaguchi Says Decision To Change Role Was Made A Year Ago

Miyaguchi claimed the decision for her to shift roles was made a year ago, while also suggesting recent criticism may have contributed to the timing of the announcement:

I’m feeling deeply grateful and enthusiastic for what’s ahead, and while I made this decision a year ago, recent events have given me the perfect opportunity to reflect on what truly matters to me.

Aya Miyaguchi, Incoming President of the Ethereum Foundation

On X / Twitter Vitalik Buterin echoed Miyaguchi’s claim around her new role being in works for a long time, while also taking the opportunity to praise her achievements during her tenure as executive director:

… every success of the EF – the steady execution of Ethereum hard forks, client interop workshops, Devcon, Ethereum’s culture and steadfast commitment to its mission and values, and more – is in part a result of Aya’s stewardship.

Vitalik Buterin, Founder of Ethereum

Miyaguchi was one of just three members of the Foundation’s executive Board listed on its website, alongside Buterin and Patrick Storchenegger. No replacement for Miyaguchi has been announced yet but Buterin said more information about the Ethereum Foundation’s leadership restructure will be coming soon:

We have been working on the new EF leadership structure, and will share more news soon. Stay tuned!

Vitalik Buterin, Founder of Ethereum

Mounting Criticism Likely Contributed To Decision

The Ethereum community have been criticising the Ethereum Foundation’s stewardship of the ecosystem for a long time. Particularly, its perceived hands-off approach to ecosystem development and its focus on using layer-2s to scale the network — a focus which some believe is behind ETH’s poor recent price action.

Towards the end of last year when the crypto markets were buoyant following Trump’s election, many cryptocurrencies more than doubled in price. And while ETH also saw significant gains, it under-performed compared to Bitcoin and its chief rival, Solana. Nothing gets crypto communities more riled up than under-performing the market.

Related: Ethereum Foundation Announces Leadership Shake-Up: Aims for Increased Technical Acumen and Improved Communications

This under-performance led to a ratcheting up of the criticism in January as the community increasingly felt ETH had fallen further and further behind its competition. Much of the criticism has been specifically directed at Miyaguchi over what her critics see as leadership failures and skewed priorities, with some suggesting Miyaguchi has prioritised “wokeness” over results:

The response to Miyaguchi’s shift to Ethereum Foundation President has been largely met with positivity. However some in the community have continued to attack Miyaguchi, suggesting she’s been moved to her new role to exclude her from the decision making process.