- The EF is enhancing its leadership to better support technological innovation and ecosystem collaboration.
- A major effort is being made to support application developers and uphold essential values at the application layer.
Vitalik Buterin explicitly stated that executing an ideological shift from a “feminized wef soyboy mentality” to a “bronze age mindset” is not a goal of the Ethereum Foundation. The focus remains on maintaining Ethereum’s position as a global neutral platform, avoiding aggressive lobbying or political engagement.
We are indeed currently in the process of large changes to EF leadership structure, which has been ongoing for close to a year. Some of this has already been executed on and made public, and some is still in progress.
What we're trying to achieve is primarily the following…
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) January 18, 2025
Continuing with ETHNews reports, the Ethereum Foundation (EF) is currently undergoing significant changes in its leadership structure, a process that has been in motion for nearly a year. Some changes have already been implemented and announced, while others are still being developed.
Enhancing Technical and Operational Capabilities
The primary goals of this leadership transformation are to enhance the technical expertise within the EF’s leadership and to improve communication and collaboration between the EF and the various stakeholders in the Ethereum ecosystem. These stakeholders include individual and institutional users, application developers, wallet providers, and Layer 2 solutions.
Supporting Application Developers and Users
A key focus is to become more supportive of application builders and to ensure that core values such as privacy, open-source development, and censorship resistance are upheld, especially at the application layer.

The EF is also increasing its use of decentralized and privacy-enhancing technologies on the Ethereum blockchain, including for payments and treasury management.
Steering Clear of Non-Goals
The EF has clearly outlined what it does not intend to do. These non-goals include shifting its ideological stance or becoming more centralized.
The foundation also intends to avoid becoming overly involved in political lobbying or allowing itself to become an arena for vested interests.
Vitalik Buterin’s post read:
“We are indeed currently in the process of large changes to EF leadership structure, which has been ongoing for close to a year. Some of this has already been executed on and made public, and some is still in progress.”
Buterin outlined the primary objectives as improving technical expertise, fostering better communication with the community, bringing in fresh talent, and ensuring Ethereum’s values are upheld at the application layer.
How will you achieve “increase our use of decentralized and privacy tech and the Ethereum chain” and still remain credibly neutral?
In the past I’ve tried to help EF-aligned people to leverage @gitcoin tools. I’ve found it’s a non starter + they won’t have the convo bc they…
— Kev.Ξth’s learning HOW TO DAO (@owocki) January 18, 2025
However, the community’s reaction has been mixed, with concerns about how these changes might affect Ethereum’s neutrality and decentralization. owocki, known as Kev.Ξth’s learning HOW TO DAO, raised questions about the balance between utilizing decentralized technologies and maintaining neutrality, stating:
“How will you achieve ‘increase our use of decentralized and privacy tech and the Ethereum chain’ and still remain credibly neutral?”
He further mentioned his past attempts to integrate gitcoin tools with EF-aligned projects, which faced resistance due to concerns over perceived bias.
In response, Vitalik Buterin acknowledged the need for flexibility, commenting:
“owocki gitcoin I think that EF should be more willing to use tools built in the ecosystem (including in defi) even if it means we’re not entirely neutral in that sense. Though we should of course do this very judiciously.”
Another user, Daniel Ospina, suggested that the EF should focus on supporting initiatives across different Layer 2 solutions, not just financially but by raising awareness, proposing:
“I’d love to see the EF helping to support cross-L2 initiatives. Not necessarily financially, rising awareness works. Next Billion Fellowship but for initiatives that help all L2s.”
Buterin confirmed that work is already underway in this area, noting:
“Daniel Ospina rudolf6_ and many others already working on this!”
Buterin also clarified that certain ideological shifts or aggressive political lobbying are not part of the EF’s agenda, aiming to reassure the community that Ethereum’s foundational principles remain unchanged.
He explicitly stated:
“Explicit non-goals are: Execute some kind of ideological / vibez pivot from feminized wef soyboy mentality to bronze age mindset… Start aggressively lobbying regulators and powerful political figures.”
The community’s discourse reflects a balance between excitement for the potential growth and improvement of Ethereum and caution against straying from its core values. As econoar pointed out in relation to lobbying, “I actually agree that the EF should not be directly involved in lobbying“ indicating a community-led effort funded by the EF is in the works to address this aspect.

Ethereum (ETH) is currently priced at $3,280.8 USD, reflecting a 5.58% decline over the last 24 hours. Key resistance levels are identified at $3,800 and $3,557.
On the downside, the 200-day EMA at $3,120 acts as a significant support level, and a drop below this could push ETH toward $2,900. Conversely, surpassing $3,800 could propel the price toward the $4,000 mark.