Ethereum Veteran Pushes Major Reform Plan

Feist Calls Out the Ethereum Foundation

Former Ethereum Foundation researcher Dankrad Feist has gone public with a pointed critique of the organization he helped build, arguing that a wholesale restructuring is needed to keep Ethereum competitive. Feist proposed a new ETH-focused organization with a minimum of $1 billion in funding and what he described as competent leadership. His central argument is that the current foundation lacks the financial alignment to advocate effectively for the network.

Feist argued that the Ethereum Foundation has limited direct economic alignment, noting that the foundation now holds less than 0.1% of all ETH and that no staking or fee revenue currently flows to it. That structural gap, he says, undermines the organization's ability to act in the long-term interests of the network and its token holders.

Feist's proposal envisions a structure built on permanent staking revenue streams, giving it financial independence and a long time horizon.He argued that the organization should have competent leadership and a board with stronger oversight, with a mandate to help support Ethereum's value.

The proposal lands amid broader turbulence at the foundation. At least eight senior members have departed the organization in 2026, with five leaving in May alone.Key researchers including Danny Ryan, Carl Beek, and Julian Ma have recently left the organization. Ryan had previously departed to co-found Etherealize, a division focused on institutional marketing and commercial promotion of the protocol.

While working in the Ethereum community, Feist co-created the Danksharding design used to improve Layer 2 scalability.Last fall, Feist left the Ethereum Foundation to build Tempo, a private blockchain under development by payments giant Stripe.

Tom Lee Defends Ethereum's Long-Term Case

Bitmine Chair Tom Lee pushed back against the bearish narrative, reiterating his conviction in Ethereum's structural role in both finance and artificial intelligence. Lee has framed the asset as a play on both institutional adoption and AI infrastructure, pointing to Wall Street tokenization and agentic AI systems as dual tailwinds for the network.

Lee has argued that stablecoin transaction volumes now exceed Visa payment volumes, and that the tokenized asset market could eventually grow to $300 trillion as equities and fixed income products move on-chain. He contends that Ethereum is best positioned to capture a significant share of that activity given its neutrality and reliability.

Bitmine itself has been one of the most aggressive institutional buyers of Ethereum. The firm, helmed by Chairman Thomas Lee, has pushed its total holdings above 5 million tokens, representing about 4.21% of ether's circulating supply.The firm has staked over 3.7 million ETH, generating about $264 million in annualized revenue from yield.

The exchange between Feist and Lee reflects a broader tension in the Ethereum ecosystem: concerns about institutional governance and funding on one side, and growing corporate conviction in the network's long-term infrastructure value on the other.

Sources:
The Block: Former EF developer Dankrad Feist suggests $1 billion raise to form new Ethereum advocacy group
Decrypt: Prominent Ethereum Dev Proposes $1 Billion ETH Organization
CoinDesk: Bitmine buys $236 million in ether as Tom Lee touts ETH as wartime store of value