Longtime Ethereum Core Developer Péter Szilágyi has hit out at the Ethereum Foundation’s formula to governance in a only within the near previous shared mid-2024 memo to other Foundation management, accusing it of having a “ruling elite who will by no arrangement relinquish admire a watch on.”
“Ethereum will most definitely be decentralised, but Vitalik completely has total indirect admire a watch on over it,” read the letter.
The Ethereum Foundation (EF) is a non-profit that supports the Ethereum (ETH) ecosystem. Vitalik Buterin, who change into one of Ethereum’s founders, is its most properly-identified point out.
Szilágyi has worked for the Foundation since 2015, quickly after the cryptocurrency launched. He led the Geth mission, or Spin Ethereum—the most popular instrument client historical to flee Ethereum nodes—with about 41% of the market share.
He added that even supposing he has “utmost appreciate for Vitalik,” the Ethereum founder is straight defining what turns into a hit within the community’s ecosystem.
“His attention, route of compare, brainpower, donations and investments completely outline which projects be triumphant (at a actually high chance),” Szilágyi wrote. “And his opinions completely outline what’s permitted and what is now not truly permitted within the ecosystem at gigantic, so the important thing to gray-blueprint behavior is to persuade Vitalik or now not it’s okay-ish.”
He alleged that for projects to change into supported by the Foundation, “you dazzling must procure the merely 5–10 of us spherical Vitalik” to commit.
The passe developer claimed that the Foundation’s centralized formula has extended to how it approaches exterior investment. He says the Foundation has moved far flung from its usual strategy of offering fresh projects for public investment, in its establish “reaching out to the the same 5–10 of us for preliminary investment or advisory roles.”
“You fetch the the same right of us leisurely the total fresh projects launching, every mission straight having fun with into every other’s arms, and if you zoom out sufficient, you might well additionally fetch the the same VCs on the commence air,” Szilágyi added.
Decrypt has reached out to the Ethereum Foundation and might well presumably mute update this text might well mute we receive a response.
Polygon Founder jumps in
Sandeep Nailwal, CEO and founder of the Polygon Foundation, chimed in with a tweet, using Szilágyi’s feedback as a springboard to vent his admire frustrations about the Foundation and arguing that the Ethereum neighborhood “must take a laborious notice at itself.”
“Why does it feel like every other week, somebody with main contributions to Ethereum has to publicly ask what they’re even doing here?” he added.
Polygon (POL) is a Layer-2 community that makes exhaust of Ethereum as its basis.
Learn this from Peter and realized that or now not it’s time for me to additionally command up.
NGL, I’ve started questioning my loyalty toward Ethereum. I didn’t attain into crypto thanks to Bitcoin but thanks to Ethereum. I additionally admire plenty of gratitude toward @VitalikButerin — somebody I looked up… https://t.co/yrcrGEwXs8
— Sandeep | CEO, Polygon Foundation (※,※) (@sandeepnailwal) October 20, 2025
Nailwal additionally criticized the Foundation’s decision now not to grant his community reliable recognition as an L2—and the reliable safety ensures that can present. Buterin later addressed the distress in conjunction with his admire tweet, declaring that he appreciated the “immensely precious characteristic” Polygon plays within the Ethereum ecosystem.
I truly like both @sandeepnailwal’s deepest contributions and @0xPolygon’s immensely precious characteristic within the ethereum ecosystem.
To recap:
* Polygon hosts @Polymarket, which might well very properly be the one most a hit instance of a “now not dazzling dreary finance” app that has surely…
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) October 21, 2025
