花柒

Ethereum Foundation (EF) co-executive director Tomasz Stańczak announced he will resign at the end of February, just about a year after taking office. As the community voices varied opinions, Ethereum consensus layer core contributor and ChainSafe co-founder Gregory Markou (Greg) revealed the reasons in a post. (Background: Strong rebound! Bitcoin breaks $69,000, Ethereum rises above $2,000, shorts liquidated at $150 million after nearly 4 hours) (Background supplement: Ethereum Foundation co-executive director announces resignation, Vitalik expresses gratitude: Tomasz transformed EF within a year) Greg Markou is the co-founder and CTO of ChainSafe Systems, and Lodestar, under ChainSafe, is one of the core clients of the Ethereum consensus layer. Greg himself is also a long-time core contributor to the Ethereum ecosystem. After the news of Tomasz's departure broke, Greg published a lengthy post on social media that sparked widespread discussion. He revealed that at the beginning of Tomasz's tenure, he had opened his calendar to everyone, giving them the opportunity for in-depth discussions. At that time, Greg directly told Tomasz: You really only have one KPI, and that’s getting fired in the first year. (You really only have one KPI, and that’s getting fired in the first year.) A year later, the prophecy came true. Greg admitted he was not surprised. I'm not shocked hearing Tomasz is stepping down from the EF. When he first opened up his calendar to everyone, we had a chat about my thoughts and goals. I told him concretely: "You really only have one KPI, and that's getting fired in the first year." —– Why? Power… https://t.co/ljWTJBTs2s — GregTheGreek (@gregthegreek) February 13, 2026 "EF doesn't do things this way" Greg pointed directly at the deeply ingrained organizational culture of the Ethereum Foundation. He pointed out that "this is not how we do things at the EF" is a phrase commonly heard within the Foundation, and nothing has changed. He named former executive director Aya Miyaguchi, who, despite stepping down to chair under community pressure last year, has never truly lost her influence within the Foundation. Greg described Aya's long-criticized "infinite garden" management philosophy as "the flowery garden shit is exhausting." Many Ethereum community participants believe this Zen-like vision is too hollow and detached from reality to respond to the urgent challenges faced by Ethereum in fierce competition. Greg further described the internal chaos of the Foundation: Leeches everywhere, dead products clinging to $1m budgets, and god knows what else. He believes Tomasz's arrival was meant to break this stagnation—drive reform, reorganize, and awaken the once-absent Vitalik Buterin. And the reform did start, but the result was "a bunch of internal changes that made many people unhappy, and then we saw him leave a year later." The other side of the conflict of interest: Nethermind Greg also admitted that things are not one-sided. He stated that before joining the EF, Tomasz was the founder and CEO of the Ethereum execution layer client Nethermind, with deep ties to Flashbots and the venture capital circle. These conflicts of interest (COI) were reportedly disclosed before his appointment but still left many within the Foundation feeling dissatisfied. In fact, one of the most controversial incidents during Tomasz's tenure is related to Nethermind. Ethereum core developer Péter Szilágyi publicly revealed last year that the Foundation secretly formed a second Geth development team within Nethermind, completely keeping the original Geth team in the dark. Szilágyi was subsequently fired, and he later rejected the Foundation's proposed $5 million "independent split" scheme, publicly criticizing the lack of transparency from the Foundation's management. This incident further intensified community doubts about the internal governance of the Foundation. Tomasz's "decent" response In response to Greg's revelations, Tomasz replied with a hint of self-deprecation: Just as Greg predicted, he left after a year. In an official blog post, he maintained a decent statement, claiming that his departure was voluntary: As time goes on, my ability to execute independently at EF has gradually decreased, and staying in the organization felt more like treading water to hand over the baton. However, Tomasz intriguingly mentioned that "the Ethereum Foundation's management team needs to prove to everyone that they are willing to act more quickly." This statement, upon closer examination, subtly echoes Greg's description of "Tomasz's failed reform, and everything remains the same in the Foundation." If all business is healthy and smooth, why would there be a need to prove anything? The concerns of Ethereum Foundation's executives After Tomasz's departure, Bastian Aue, originally responsible for policy support and long-term projects, took over as interim co-executive director, partnering with Hsiao-Wei Wang. This marks the third leadership change at the Ethereum Foundation in nearly a year, from Aya Miyaguchi stepping down, to Tomasz and Hsiao-Wei Wang taking over, and now Tomasz leaving quietly. Ethereum's market positioning has changed rapidly, and EF personnel changes have also come quickly. Vitalik Buterin praised Tomasz, stating that his "work ethic has always been impressive," helping the Foundation improve efficiency and enhance responsiveness. However, the community clearly does not buy V's endorsement, just as Greg said, it only takes a little profanity to feel like an insult: There are not many adults with real business experience left in the Foundation. I just hope...