Is the Ethereum Foundation Too Out of Touch to Save ETH?

Vitalik finally said ETH the asset matters. Zak Cole’s reaction: ‘Should have said that five years ago.’ What broken cryptoeconomics mean for Ethereum’s future.

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The Ethereum Foundation has lost a wave of senior people in the span of a few months. A new co-executive director nobody has ever met is cutting budgets and releasing documents with a certain aesthetic.

Vitalik published a post saying ETH the asset is the most high-value product of the blockchain. And David Hoffman sold his last ETH.

Zak Cole, president of the Ethereum Community Foundation, and Greg Markou, co-founder of Sprinter and ChainSafe, join Laura Shin to sort through what’s a bear market tantrum, what’s a structural failure, and what would actually need to change for Ethereum to stop ceding ground to its competitors.

The conversation covers the CROPS mandate, the rumored loyalty pledge, broken cryptoeconomics, and what Zak says the EF still refuses to admit.

Host:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Laura Shin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, Host / Unchained

Guests:

⁠⁠⁠⁠Zak Cole - Managing Partner, Number Group; President, Ethereum Community Foundation

⁠⁠⁠⁠Greg Markou - Co-founder and CEO, Sprinter; Co-founder, ChainSafe

Timestamps

🏛️ 00:32 The EF departures: a maturing org, or a retreat from what Tomasz built?

📣 06:52 Coinbase: Get 20% off the first year of your Coinbase One annual plan at https://coinbase.com/unchained

👀 08:41 Are these departures actually concerning, or is this just what churn looks like?

📑 15:22 The CROPS mandate, the manga aesthetic, and what it says about who’s really in charge

⚠️ 26:50 The loyalty pledge: performance improvement plan or loyalty purge?

🧠 33:11 Dankrad’s $1B proposal: what would it actually take to fund Ethereum’s comeback?

💸 42:00 Vitalik finally says ETH the asset matters. Zak: ‘Should have said that five years ago’

🏆 48:36 Ethereum vs. Solana, Tron, and Hyperliquid: does the EF even know it’s in a race?

🏗️ 52:50 What Zak’s Ethereum Community Foundation is building, and what the EF could learn from it

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