A prominent former Ethereum researcher has proposed building a new, well-funded organization to “save Ethereum,” saying the current stewardship — led by the Ethereum Foundation (EF) — is out of step with the network’s economic realities.
What Feist proposed
- Dankrad Feist, who until last year was one of the EF’s top researchers, called on the community to create a new organization with at least $1 billion in runway.
- He said that funding should come from a “significant amount” of ETH staking fees and other revenue aligned with the protocol, arguing the EF currently holds less than 0.1% of all ETH and receives no flow of staking or fee revenue.
- The new body, Feist added, should be accountable to the Ethereum community and economically aligned with ETH’s success — with a board “who want ETH to go up” and “a leader who is competent and wants to fight.”
Why now: governance, optics and resignations
- Feist’s remarks land amid growing scrutiny of the Ethereum Foundation’s direction and a spate of recent resignations from EF leadership, including two departures this week. Those exits have intensified questions about the Foundation’s ability to lead the ecosystem.
- Critics have argued EF has focused more on idealistic, technical improvements than on economics, marketing or clear incentives that would directly support ETH’s value.
Background tension over EF’s mandate
- Last year, Vitalik Buterin acknowledged the Foundation needed “large changes.” In March the EF published a long‑anticipated mandate that underscored the organization’s resistance to treating ETH price appreciation as an objective. The document includes lines such as “Our bottom line is not profit, nor organizational growth, nor blind adoption at all costs,” and “We are NOT a marketing agency…. We are NOT a casino…. We are NOT opportunists.” The mandate also drew criticism for unusual phrasing and imagery that some found off‑putting.
- The mandate and subsequent departures have left parts of the community arguing for a more economically driven steward of Ethereum.
Market context
- ETH has struggled to produce sustained price gains in recent years. After approaching $5,000 last summer, it has since fallen roughly 57% to around $2,100, underscoring the urgency behind calls for a different strategic approach.
Feist’s recent path and reactions
- Feist left the Ethereum Foundation last fall to build Tempo, a private blockchain project at payments firm Stripe. At the time, some observers framed the move as a surprising switch in career direction; one commentator compared it to environmental activist Greta Thunberg taking a post at an oil major — a pointed metaphor, not Feist’s own description.
- Decrypt reached out to Feist for clarification on his tweet and whether he had specific leaders in mind; we will update if he responds.
What’s next
Feist’s proposal is the most direct and forceful challenge yet from a high‑profile ex‑EF insider. Whether the Ethereum community will rally behind a new $1 billion organization funded by staking revenues — and what mechanisms would be used to redirect those flows — remain open, contentious questions that touch on governance, economics and the future direction of the protocol.
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