- Aya Miyaguchi, the executive director of the Ethereum Foundation, stated that the organization is creating a written policy to handle such conflicts of interest.
- The announcement comes after two researchers from the Ethereum Foundation recently revealed that they have received “significant” EigenLayer token incentives.
Executive Director of the Ethereum Foundation, Aya Miyaguchi, stated that following the disclosure of two of the organization’s researchers receiving “significant” EigenLayer token rewards, the group is expediting the creation of a written policy to resolve possible conflicts of interest.
Credible neutrality upheld by the Ethereum Foundation is essential to our ability to carry out our ecosystem-wide function. We share the community’s concerns and are aware of the ongoing discussion on potential conflicts of interest. On Friday, Miyaguchi posted to X.
It is evident that depending solely on culture and personal discretion has not been adequate, and we have been addressing this issue for some time now with formal policy. We’re going to pick up the pace on this and will provide an update shortly, Miyaguchi continued.
In response, the Ethereum Foundation should pay its employees appropriately so they “don’t find it necessary to seek extra compensation packages from somewhere else,” according to Lefteris Karapetsas, a former Ethereum software engineer and the creator of the cryptocurrency portfolio tracking tool Rotki.
After recently joining the Eigen Foundation as an advisor, researcher Justin Drake of the Ethereum Foundation revealed on May 19 that he had received a “significant” Eigen token bonus.
The revelation came after a conversation between co-founder of Ethereum Vitalik Buterin and cryptocurrency trader Jordan Fish, better known by his handle Cobie, regarding possible conflicts of interest between EigenLayer and the Ethereum Foundation, his employer, because key developers and researchers at the latter were taking on advisory roles.
Drake stated at the time that the advisorship carries a large EIGEN token incentive that “may easily be worth more than the combined value of all my other assets (mostly ETH)”. Millions of dollars’ worth of tokens that vest over three years are at stake.
The researcher for the Ethereum Foundation continued by promising to “reinject” all of the money raised into “worthy” projects inside the Ethereum ecosystem, either through donations or investments.
The researcher added that he only accepted the position with the understanding that his duties would be restricted to studying restaking concerns and that he would continue to take a generally critical stance about EigenLayer.
Two days later, Dankrad Feist, another researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, said that, similar to Drake, he had recently joined EigenLayer as an advisor. Feist’s post, however, made no mention of any comparable pledges to donate or make investments.
Feist added, “I am taking this stance personally, not on behalf of the Ethereum Foundation, and with an emphasis on risks and decentralization.” It is therefore perfectly expected of me to hold opposing opinions regarding EigenLayer.
Three Ethereum Foundation employees had a formal affiliation with EigenLayer at the time of Drake’s disclosure: two advisors and one investor. The investor has not yet stepped forward, assuming Feist was the other advisor Drake was talking to.
With the goal of allocating those ether money to safe third-party networks or actively vetted services, EigenLayer is a platform that allows users to deposit and “re-stake” ether from a variety of liquid staking tokens.
Disclaimer : This article was created for informational purposes only and should not be taken as investment advice. An asset’s past performance does not predict its future returns. Before making an investment, please conduct your own research, as digital assets like cryptocurrencies are highly risky and volatile financial instruments.
