The Ethereum Foundation has announced its plan to implement a conflicts of interest policy, according to Aya Miyaguchi, the executive director of the foundation. This decision comes as a response to the controversy surrounding the connection between the foundation and EigenLayer developers within the cryptocurrency community.
In the week leading up to Miyaguchi’s announcement, two Ethereum researchers joined EigenFoundation as paid advisers. Justin Drake made his appointment public on May 19 through an extensive post, revealing that he would receive incentives worth “millions of dollars” from EigenFoundation. However, he assured that he would reinvest the money into the Ethereum ecosystem. The following day, Dankrad Feist also made a similar announcement, acknowledging that he had received a significant amount of tokens. Both researchers clarified that they were taking these positions personally and not as representatives of the Ethereum Foundation. Drake even pledged to maintain a critical perspective on EigenLayer, while Feist stated that he would adopt contrarian views.
The reaction to these moves by the researchers was mixed. ZkSecurity co-founder David Wong tweeted about Drake, while some commenters expressed skepticism, suggesting that the disclosure only occurred due to a leak by Cobie, also known as Jordan Fish, a crypto trader. Fish had asked Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin about the foundation staff’s links to EigenLayer the day before Drake’s public announcement. Another individual queried Feist about the matter.
Miyaguchi explained in her post that the reliance on culture and individual judgment has not been sufficient to maintain the foundation’s credible neutrality. As a result, the foundation has been working on a formal policy to address this issue, with more details to be provided soon.
Drake further revealed that there is a third member of the Ethereum Foundation who has connections with EigenFoundation as an investor, but did not disclose their identity.
EigenLayer is a layer-2 restaking protocol for Ethereum that enables node operators and validators to earn fees by restaking liquid Ether (ETH) received through staking. They can then either place these assets on EVM platforms like Lido, potentially using ETH received on that platform, or secure and validate other networks such as sidechains or non-EVM blockchains. This allows them to stake the same assets twice.
EigenLayer was launched on the Ethereum Goerli testnet in April 2023 and partially released on the mainnet in April.
In conclusion, the Ethereum Foundation’s decision to implement a conflicts of interest policy is a response to the controversy surrounding its connection with EigenLayer developers. The involvement of Ethereum researchers as paid advisers to EigenFoundation has drawn mixed reactions within the crypto community. The foundation aims to address the issue through a formal policy in order to maintain its credible neutrality.