Ethereum Foundation Researchers Resign From EigenLayer

Prominent Ethereum Foundation (EF) researchers have stepped down from roles at external projects following months of backlash from the Ethereum community.

On Nov. 2, Justin Drake and Dankrad Feist announced they stood down from advisory positions at EigenLayer, the pioneering restaking protocol and third-largest DeFi dApp with a total value locked (TVL) of $11 billion, in a bid to ensure their neutrality.

Feist acknowledged public concerns that his role at EigenLayer could create a “conflict of interest,” emphasizing that all of his attention will be focused on Ethereum moving forward.

Drake noted that he stepped down from EigenLayer in September, and also stopped working for Ultra Sound Money, an Ethereum data provider.

“I dropped the EigenLayer advisorship, left the Ultra Sound team, and made other changes to double down on neutrality and focus on L1 research and coordination,” Drake posted on X. “Going forward, I will turn down all advisorships, angel investments, and security councils. This personal policy goes above and beyond the recent EF-wide conflict of interest policy, not because that was asked of me but because I want to signal a commitment to neutrality.”

Community backlash

Drake and Feist announced their positions at EigenLayer in May. While Feist said he would not receive a “significant amount of tokens’ for his role, Drake said he stood to receive “millions of dollars” worth of EIGEN tokens vested over three years.

The news attracted widespread criticism from the Ethereum community, with onlookers asserting the position undermined the researchers’ perceived neutrality. “This is a clear as day conflict of interest of key decision makers of Ethereum protocol development and should absolutely not be tolerated,” said Lefteris Karapetsas, the founder of Rotkiapp.

In May, Aya Miyaguchi, the executive director at Ethereum Foundation, said EF shared the community’s concerns and was working on a “formal policy” to address the issue.

Miyaguchi added that relying solely on the Foundation’s “culture and individual judgment” was insufficient and a codified policy is necessary to uphold community trust.

Drake’s latest post noted he did not receive any compensation from EigenLayer, with none of his allocated tokens having vested when the agreement was terminated.

Drake and Feist did not respond to The Defiant’s request to comment.

Controversial EF sales

The news comes as the Ethereum Foundation is attracting controversy for its spending.

In August, the Ethereum community was rattled by transferring $94 million worth of ETH to Kraken, a centralized exchange. Miyaguchi said the transfer related to the foundation’s roughly $100 million annual budget for grants and salaries, with the organization assuring that the funds weren’t sold in one go.

However, Scopescan, an on-chain analyst, flagged that the Ethereum Foundation has offloaded the equivalent of 140 ETH each week (approximately $2,600) on-chain throughout 2024, with 6,166 ETH ($11.5 million) sold year-to-date.

The Ethereum Foundation did not respond to The Defiant’s request for comment.