Vitalik Buterin has responded to calls for change at the Ethereum Foundation, rejecting calls for Executive Director Aya Miyaguchi to resign and criticizing pressure campaigns targeting the foundation.
His comments were in response to tweets from traders and industry insiders including CoinMamba, Tetranode, and Evan Van Ness, who said the appointment of Danny Ryan as EF leader raised concerns about development priorities and decision-making. He claimed that it would be resolved.
Buterin said:
“This is not how this game works. I will be the one deciding on the new EF leadership team.”
According to EF's website, there are only three members of the board: Vitalik Buterin, Aya Miyaguchi and Patrick Strchenegger.
Buterin warned that orchestrating social media pressure risks damaging Ethereum's culture and alienating contributors. He stressed that any leadership change requires thoughtful steps, not public confrontations, saying:
“When you ‘keep the pressure on,’ you create a toxic environment for good talent. Recently, some of the best developers on Ethereum messaged me and said that people like you I am expressing my distaste for the social media environment you are creating. You are making my job even more difficult.”
Coinmanba suggested Miyaguchi's resignation could cause Ethereum's price to rise, while Tetranode publicly threatened to prolong its efforts to oust leaders it deemed unsuitable. Buterin countered that this approach hurts morale and prevents top talent from joining the Ethereum ecosystem.
Ethereum reform
The tension comes in the wake of Buterin's recent comments outlining changes to the Ethereum Foundation's leadership structure. He emphasized improving technical expertise, fostering stronger collaboration with ecosystem participants, and recruiting new contributors aligned with Ethereum's open source values. He also stressed that the change in leadership does not transform the foundation into a centralized or politically-driven organization.
Some community members see the leadership battle as the culmination of broader disagreements over the Foundation's role. Critics question the group's transparency, citing past token movementssuch as when the Foundation transferred $72 million in ETH to Kraken in January 2025.
Some have cited delays in upgrading Dencun, which introduced “BLOB transport transactions” to improve data handling. The phased rollout has caused friction among some participants who are hoping for faster progress.
EF changes and commercial requirements
While some would like to see the foundation adopt a more top-down approach, Buterin argued that Ethereum should remain decentralized and that the EF should focus on efforts that it can effectively manage. He objected to the idea that EF should feel obligated to address every concern in the community, noting that a for-profit entity could serve other purposes better. Critics such as Evan Van Ness acknowledged Buterin's position but argued that naming Ryan as Miyaguchi's successor would ease tensions.
Buterin suggested that the EF continue its mission, encouraging alternative organizations to take on roles that the Foundation cannot easily fill. Buterin's message reaffirmed his control over EF's governance until a proposed “appropriate board” is in place, but suggested leadership plans and personnel changes would not be immediately reversed. I was doing it.
He also highlighted the comments of several other X users, labeling them “pure evil” because they included vulgar memes, bullying calls for Aya, and arguments to “kill Aya”. I attached it.
He insisted that promoting a healthy developer environment remains a priority and urged critics to consider the long-term impact of public campaigns. He did not provide a timeline for further structural reforms, leaving open the question of when or if the foundation's leadership would change.
