Ethereum Foundations Aya Miyaguchi steps into new leadership role amid governance shift
Ethereum Foundation (EF) executive director Aya Miyaguchi will step down from her current role and transition into a new position as the foundations president amid a revamp of its leadership structure.
Miyaguchi announced the change in a Feb. 25 statement and said a new governance model is expected soon. She added that her new role as president will focus on strengthening institutional relationships and expanding Ethereums (ETH) broader vision and culture.
She described the transition as an opportunity to reflect on Ethereums decentralized ethos, especially in light of recent debates surrounding the networks performance and ETHs market value.
She added that Ethereums strength lies in its permissionless nature, where open discourse contributes to resilience rather than division.
Vitalik Buterin, Ethereums co-founder, acknowledged Miyaguchis contributions during her tenure, emphasizing her role in fostering an environment conducive to innovation. He shared on X:
As I see it, the role of an ED is to create an environment where others can shine and do their best work, and so every success of the EF the steady execution of Ethereum hard forks, client interop workshops, Devcon, Ethereums culture and steadfast commitment to its mission and values, and more is in part a result of Ayas stewardship.
Independent from entities
Miyaguchi reaffirmed that the foundations role is not to exert control over Ethereum but to uphold its principles of credible neutrality.
She emphasized the organizations philosophy of subtraction, a design approach that seeks to reduce systemic imbalances rather than impose rigid structures. This strategy has guided the foundations decision-making process and helped ensure that Ethereum remains decentralized and adaptable.
Key examples of this philosophy in action include the All Core Dev calls to enable community-driven technical decision-making, promoting client diversity to mitigate single points of failure, and facilitating research and development.
Additionally, the foundation coordinated The Merge, Ethereums transition to proof of stake, as a decentralized and collaborative effort.
Miyaguchi assessed that Ethereum operates through a decentralized leadership model, mainly through events like Devcon and Devconnect, which are gatherings to drive progress in their respective ecosystems.
In this landscape, EFs approach prioritizes nurturing leadership across diverse communities, fostering organic collaboration without centralized oversight.
She also noted that Ethereums continued success hinges on its ability to adapt without resembling traditional corporate structures. The EFs strategic focus has shifted from direct execution to broader facilitation, ensuring that Ethereums growth remains aligned with its decentralized principles.
Pressure over ETHs performance
Based on CryptoSlate data, Ethereum climbed 42% in 2024, but its performance was heavily overshadowed by Bitcoins (BTC) and Solanas (SOL), which climbed 112% and 73%, respectively, during the year.
The Ethereum Foundation has faced criticism for ETHs underperformance due to its constant sales on public trading platforms. As of Jan. 27, EF had sold nearly $1 million in ETH via three different transactions.
In response to the communitys concerns, the foundation allocated 50,000 ETH to different decentralized applications to earn yields based on their treasury instead of selling their Ether stash as part of their new management model.
Miyaguchi also received criticism for allegedly failing to sufficiently foster Ethereums growth, which contributed to its underperformance in 2024.
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Text source: CryptoSlate
