A fresh wave of debate over Ethereum’s governance emerged today following a definitive statement from Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin, who rejected a growing community campaign to promote Danny Ryan to a leadership position within the Ethereum Foundation (EF). Buterin’s emphatic refusal underscores a core question: How does centralized decision-making power align with a platform that aspires to be decentralized? Should the community have a more significant voice in determining leadership?
Does The Ethereum Founder Have Too Much Power?
Calls to replace EF’s leadership have circulated in recent days, sparked by assertions on social media that the departure of certain figures—most notably Aya Miyagotchi—would accelerate Ether’s journey to a potential all-time high. CoinMamba (@coinmamba) ignited discussion on X with a pointed statement: “We got some momentum here. With Aya Miyagotchi resigning ETH can reach ATH in 2 weeks. […] if we keep the pressure on, she will resign.”
Others, including Eric Conner (@econoar), a builder at EthHub.io and host of the Into the Ether podcast, took it further: “If the EF doesn’t hire Danny Ryan as ED of the EF, it’s revolt time.”Evan Van Ness, Chief intern at TxPool Capital, also weighed in: “I don’t support hate towards Aya either. Vitalik can also end them now by announcing Danny.”
Buterin’s rebuff was swift and unequivocal. Referring to the restructuring plans already underway at the EF, he clarified that “this is not how this game works. The person deciding the new EF leadership team is me,” adding that a transition to a more formal board remains a work in progress.
He criticized the social media campaign surrounding Miyagotchi’s leadership, explaining that he had received private messages from some of Ethereum’s top developers who shared their “disgust with the social media environment.” Buterin suggested that this kind of public pressure and negativity makes his job “harder” and reduces his willingness to accommodate community-led demands.
Buterin also addressed accusations leveled at Miyagotchi’s stance on competition, arguing that critics were either misinterpreting or relying on mistranslated versions of her statements. “The future of the world computer is decentralized. EF is only one part of the world computer. Perhaps the org that some people want to reform and bring back to new greater heights is actually not EF, but Consensys (or some third thing in the same category),” he added.
This leadership debate came to a head just days after Buterin announced that the EF’s leadership structure had already been under revision for nearly a year. On January 18, Buterin revealed via X: “We are indeed currently in the process of large changes to EF leadership structure, which has been ongoing for close to a year. Some of this has already been executed on and made public, and some is still in progress.”
Overall, Buterin’s stance makes clear that, for the moment, he retains primary control over the EF’s evolving hierarchy. This viewpoint has raised a broader discussion about whether Ethereum, as an ostensibly decentralized project, should allow for a single figurehead to shape such a pivotal leadership overhaul.
At press time, ETH traded at $3,282.
