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Vitalik Buterin Says Ethereum Foundation Is Not Ethereum’s Center

Vitalik Buterin Says Ethereum Foundation Is Not Ethereum’s Center

Vitalik Buterin and William Mougayar defended the Ethereum Foundation amid criticism, as Buterin said it will narrow its role around privacy, security, and decentralization while reducing ETH sales and broader scrutiny persists.

ETH

Fact Check
Multiple independent sources (Cointelegraph, crypto.news, panewslab/odaily) corroborate William Mougayar's defense of the Ethereum Foundation against criticism over strategy and ETH sales, and confirm the exact figures: 25,000 ETH sold to BitMine via three OTC deals and over 38,000 ETH unstaked. ChainCatcher's reporting confirms Vitalik Buterin separately posted a long-form defense addressing strategy, leadership turnover and ETH selling criticisms, emphasizing Ethereum must be 'amazing.'
Summary

Vitalik Buterin said the Ethereum Foundation should not be treated as the center of Ethereum, but as one purpose-built node within a broader ecosystem, while William Mougayar said the nonprofit has fulfilled its role as a protocol steward and should not be judged by ETH’s price. Their comments came amid criticism over the foundation’s strategy, leadership changes, and treasury management after it sold 25,000 ETH and unstaked more than 38,000 ETH since May. Buterin said the foundation will narrow its role to focus on privacy, security, decentralization, censorship resistance, and open source development, and had previously indicated it may become smaller and reduce ETH sales. He also said the foundation holds about 0.16% of ETH. The debate intensified as ETH fell 57% from its all-time high and as internal reforms continued following senior contributor departures.

Terms & Concepts
  • Ethereum Foundation: A nonprofit organization that supports Ethereum’s development, research, and ecosystem coordination as a protocol steward, but does not formally control the blockchain network.
  • ETH: The native cryptocurrency of Ethereum, used for transactions, network fees, and broader activity on the blockchain.
  • Censorship resistance: A property of blockchain systems intended to make it difficult for any single party to block transactions or control network participation.