Ethereum Foundation considering formal conflict of interest policy after community backlash

Ethereum Foundation (EF) is considering implementing a formal conflict of interest policy following backlash over two prominent developers joining EigenLayer as advisors.

Executive director Aya Miyaguchi addressed the issue in a social media post, emphasizing the importance of maintaining credible neutrality within the organization. She said the foundation shares the community’s concerns and is committed to maintaining trust.

Miyaguchi said:

“It is clear that relying on culture and individual judgment has not been sufficient, and we have been working on a formal policy to address this problem for a while now. We will be accelerating this work and will share an update soon.”

Controversy

The controversy began on May 18 when prominent crypto trader Jordan Fish, known as Cobie, publicly questioned Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin about the ethics of EF developers receiving significant financial incentives from projects built on the network.

Cobie’s tweet specifically used EigenLayer as an example and sparked widespread discussion on social media about potential conflicts of interest. He wrote:

“How do you feel about Ethereum Foundation core developers or researchers taking life-changing packages from projects built on Ethereum to become ‘advisors,’ when those projects may have conflicted incentives with Ethereum, either now or in the future? For example — purely theoretically, of course — let’s say, EigenLayer.”

Following Cobie’s tweet, Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake disclosed his advisory role at EigenLayer on May 19. Drake revealed that he received a substantial incentive in Eigen tokens, estimated to be worth millions of dollars over a three-year vesting period.

The disclosure heightened concerns about transparency and potential conflicts of interest between EigenLayer and the Ethereum Foundation. Drake also stated that the information had been public since May 3, and the timing of the disclosure with Cobie’s tweet was a…