Aya Miyaguchi is Ethereum Foundation’s New President ⋆ ZyCrypto

Aya Miyaguchi, executive director of the Ethereum Foundation since 2018, stepped up to the role of president, promising to boost institutional relationships and expand Ethereum’s use. 

“This new opportunity”, wrote Miyaguchi, “will allow me to continue supporting EF’s institutional relationships and to expand the reach of our vision and culture more broadly”.

Miyaguchi spent 10 years as a high school teacher before joining the crypto exchange Kraken, where she became managing director of the Japanese office. She later became executive director of the Ethereum Foundation (EF) in 2018. During her stay at EF, Miyaguchi helped the crypto transition to proof-of-stake, prioritised decentralisation, and promoted her concept of “subtraction,” which means a more hands-off approach to allowing developers more freedom.

In 2022, Under Miyaguchi, Ethereum transitioned to proof-of-stake, reducing its carbon footprint by 99%. Miyaguchi further focused on layer 2 technologies, expanding the coin’s scaling capabilities.

Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum co-founder, supports Miyaguchi and claims she creates an environment conducive to innovations. 

Advertisement

&nbsp

“As I see it, the role of an ED is to create an environment where others can shine and do their best work, and so every success of the EF – the steady execution of Ethereum hard forks, client interop workshops, Devcon, Ethereum’s culture and steadfast commitment to its mission and values, and more – is in part a result of Aya’s stewardship”.

However, some Ethereum community members oppose Miyaguchi, claiming that she is not an effective leader and does not attract new developers to the project, losing talent to rival coins like Solana. Some even blame Miyaguchi for the lagging Ethereum price, even though she has only just become president. Others welcome a leadership change because a new direction may help the project rebound.

A restructuring of the EF may also help address issues related to the treasury and the spending of funds on new projects. 

The Ethereum faction that calls for Miyaguchi’s resignation also wants Danny Ryan to replace her. Ryan is an Ethereum researcher and developer. Although, despite being a developer, Ryan may lack Miyaguchi’s leadership skills, having technical skills but possibly lacking in management skills, a common issue with developer leaders, focusing too much on the trees and not focusing on the larger forest (i.e. big picture, company vision, business scaling).

There have also been toxic attacks on Miyaguchi, prompting Buterin to condemn these actions and to remind the community that he still has a lot of say regarding the foundation’s decisions. 

Miyaguchi has further claimed that the move to place her as President fits in with the Ethereum Foundation’s broader strategy, which includes other issues concerning sustainability and a long-term vision for the project.

One of those issues, as highlighted by Miyaguchi, involves the project’s decentralized design, which separates the foundation from other projects with special interests. 

“We must avoid evolving like a traditional corporation”, wrote Miyaguchi, “because our goal isn’t for EF to ‘win’-it is for Ethereum to win over the long term while staying true to its core values. Ethereum doesn’t grow like a machine; it grows like a garden, strengthened by its biodiversity”.

Miyaguchi further references Stewart Brand’s “pace layering” framework to explain Ethereum’s different levels of growth and sustainability. From this perspective, cryptocurrency makes a lot of sense when applied to real-world problems like poverty, access to banking, pollution, and financial security. Like a garden providing relief from an urban environment, cryptocurrency offers relief from corrupt governments. 

Several controversies within the Ethereum Foundation have negatively affected mainstream adoption. One such prominent case was when EF researchers Justin Drake and Dankrad Feist took paid for advisory roles from the EigenLayer Foundation. Such conflicts of interest have angered community members. 

A lack of transparency regarding funds has exacerbated the problem. Buterin has stepped in to provide interim leadership until someone can be found to manage the EF treasury properly.