Vitalik Buterin reaffirmed his leadership of the Ethereum Foundation
Vitalik Buterin reaffirmed his leadership of the Ethereum Foundation and dismissed calls for a shakeup in a January 21 X post. He rejected any attempts to change the leadership structure, emphasizing that decisions remain his until planned reforms introduce a "proper board."
Buterin criticized members of the crypto community for being "actively toxic to top talent" and condemned the harassment faced by Aya Miyaguchi, the current executive director.
This response came after increased pressure to promote Danny Ryan, a key Ethereum researcher and developer, to a leadership role. While Ryan’s supporters highlighted his contributions to Ethereum’s consensus layer upgrade and PoW to PoS transition, Buterin made it clear that leadership decisions are his responsibility alone.
The debate over leadership has shed light on troubling behavior within the Ethereum community. Buterin condemned the harassment directed at Miyaguchi, who has faced online attacks and even death threats, calling it "pure evil."
He warned that such toxic behavior could alienate top talent, hindering the growth of Ethereum. Buterin also expressed frustration over the social media environment, stating that it made his job harder and diminishing his willingness to consider community demands.
Buterin had previously announced leadership changes on January 18 to improve communication between the foundation and the broader ecosystem.
He outlined goals focused on supporting DApp developers, censorship resistance, privacy, and decentralization, while emphasizing the foundation would avoid ideological shifts or political lobbying. Despite this, he remained firm on his sole authority over the Ethereum Foundation’s direction.
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