Foreign media reports indicate that the Ethereum Foundation has once again become a focal point of debate within the crypto industry. The catalyst was the departure of several core contributors this year, along with external criticism of its decision-making process, resource allocation, and ecosystem collaboration capabilities. As Ethereum's importance grows in DeFi, stablecoins, tokenized assets, and Layer 2, this debate has been amplified.

Eight people left the foundation within the year.

The report mentions that since January 2026, eight prominent contributors have left the Ethereum Foundation. This change has sparked speculation in the market that the foundation is entering a period of contraction.

Critics argue that the foundation has been slow to react to increased industry competition, widening the gap between itself and progress in application and commercialization. Some also point out that the foundation's resources have been too dispersed, failing to focus on more direct product and ecosystem collaborations.

The role of neutral coordinator is still valued

Supporters argue that the Ethereum Foundation still plays a role that is difficult for other institutions to replace. It is both a research institution and a relatively neutral coordinator, capable of fostering consensus on standards, roadmaps, and technological upgrades among client teams, developers, and ecosystem participants.

In the early days of Ethereum, the foundation assumed a stronger organizational role, including funding client teams, coordinating developers, and driving network upgrades. As the ecosystem has expanded, the foundation has been trying to downplay its "central authority" role in recent years, giving more space to companies, development teams, and other coordinating organizations.

Buterin responds to future positioning

The article argues that the core of the current disagreement is not merely staff turnover, but rather a differing perspective within the Ethereum ecosystem regarding the foundation's role. Some participants prioritize execution efficiency, application growth, and market competition, while others place greater emphasis on censorship resistance, openness, privacy, and neutrality.

Vitalik Buterin responded last week, stating that the Ethereum Foundation is not "the center of Ethereum," but rather a node in the ecosystem. According to him, the foundation will not play a long-term authoritative role, nor will it directly compete with expansion-driven crypto companies. Instead, it will focus its resources on longer-term, less commercially sponsored areas such as privacy, security, neutrality, and post-quantum research.

The report points out that it remains difficult to determine whether the foundation is becoming marginalized or actively shrinking into a more focused research institution. However, it is certain that Ethereum is no longer just an experimental blockchain project, but rather possesses attributes of both financial infrastructure and a technological community. The debate surrounding the foundation's role will likely continue in the short term.