Key Takeaways
What is EF being accused of?
The community claimed a lack of support and low pay from the Foundation.
Did the backlash sour ETH market sentiment?
ETH slipped slightly, but sentiment was neutral as of writing.
Ethereum [ETH] Foundation (EF) has hit headlines this week amid criticism over relatively low pay and other ecosystem misalignment.
The latest backlash was triggered by the recent move by long-standing EF researcher, Dankrad Feist. Feist will leave the Foundation and join the deep-pocketed Stripe-incubated L1 called Tempo.
Several high-profile researchers and developers have left the EF recently. And the major catalyst behind the churn? A ridiculous underpayment and lack of ‘vibes.’
EF’s misalignment
A former EF lead developer, Peter Szilagyi, revealed that he received an overall of $625K for six years, pre-tax.
Given his experience, this pay was way too low according to key players in the sector, including fellow devs in other chains like Solana. One user called it ‘insanely low’ compared to market rates.
With corporate chains like Stripe’s Tempo eyeing the Ethereum market share, the brain drain does not look good for Foundation.
But internal dissatisfaction goes beyond payment. The vibe is also woefully off, with a lack of misalignment between EF and key protocols, according to insiders.
Sandeep Nailwal, CEO of Polygon, for example, decried that the EF has never supported the L2.
For him, the Ethereum community has become a ‘shit show’ and nobody gives a hoot about people making a massive contribution to the ecosystem.
“I/we never got any direct support from the EF or the Ethereum CT community — in fact, the reverse. The Ethereum community as a whole has been a shit show for quite some time.”
Source: X
He added that despite hosting the successful Polymarket, the community doesn’t consider it as part of Ethereum.
“When Polymarket wins big, it’s “Ethereum,” but Polygon itself is not Ethereum. Mind-boggling.”
He noted that Polygon would be much better off as an L1 but has remained on Ethereum because of its ‘democratic values.’
Another Ethereum builder, Andre Conje, echoed Sandeep’s statement and posed,
“I am confused. So who is EF paying/supporting?”
Source: X
But the backlash was like deja vu. EF faced a similar crisis earlier this year. It was forced to overhaul its entire leadership to ensure ecosystem alignment. So far, the EF has actively used Aave [AAVE], Morpho [MORPHO], and other applications as part of the changes.
But it appears it was still short of meeting community expectations. In response, Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, hailed Polygon (ex-MATIC) [POL] and Sandeep’s contribution, perhaps to calm the situation.
“I really appreciate both Sandeep Nailwal’s personal contributions and Polygon’s immensely valuable role in the Ethereum ecosystem.”
Source: X
Meanwhile, the ETH price slipped slightly below $4k, as of writing, but sentiment remained ‘neutral’ despite the community chaos.
