Ethereum News: Developer Clashes With Foundation Director Over Geth Client

In a recent Ethereum news update, developer Péter Szilágyi publicly clashed with Foundation co-executive director Tomasz Stańczak over Geth client development.

The dispute involves allegations of secretive Foundation strategies and funding offers for team independence.

Szilágyi accused the Foundation of repeatedly offering $5 million for Geth team spinout. He also claimed discovery of undisclosed parallel development efforts within other client teams.

Ethereum News: Ethereum Foundation Allegedly Offered $5 Million for Geth Team Independence

Péter Szilágyi publicly accused the Ethereum Foundation of repeatedly offering $5 million for the Geth development team to become independent from Foundation oversight.

According to Szilágyi’s allegations, the Foundation approached the team at least three times suggesting they form a separate company and operate independently.

The developer claims he, along with team members Felix and Martin Holst Swende, consistently rejected these independence proposals from Foundation management.

Szilágyi specifically challenged Tomasz Stańczak to deny discussions that occurred in February regarding team separation arrangements.

These alleged offers appear connected to overall Foundation strategies around client diversity within the Ethereum ecosystem.

Szilágyi mentioned that the Foundation also provided $5 million to Parity to support client diversity initiatives and reduce overall reliance on the Geth client implementation.

The independence proposals would have removed direct Foundation control over Geth development while potentially maintaining financial support through external funding arrangements.

However, the core development team apparently preferred maintaining their current relationship with the Foundation rather than pursuing autonomous operation.

Szilágyi’s public accusations suggest ongoing tensions between Geth developers and Foundation leadership regarding team structure, compensation, and strategic direction for one of Ethereum’s most widely used client implementations.

Secret Geth Dev Team Created Without Developer Knowledge

As per Ethereum news report Szilágyi revealed Ethereum Foundation started and funded a second Geth development team within Nethermind without informing the original Geth developers.

According to his allegations, this parallel team operated as a completely independent fork with no intended collaboration with the existing Geth team.

The secret development effort remained hidden from core Geth developers including Szilágyi, Felix, and Martin until November 2025 when Szilágyi discovered the project’s existence.

Foundation leadership apparently chose not to disclose this parallel development initiative to the primary Geth team during its creation and early operation phases.

Szilágyi’s discovery of the undisclosed team led to a direct confrontation with Foundation management.

He scheduled a sabbatical meeting to discuss the secret Geth team situation, but was terminated from the Foundation within 24 hours of that discussion for allegedly threatening to quit and destroying team morale.

The Foundation has since approached Szilágyi multiple times requesting his return in February, March, April, and most recently yesterday.

However, Szilágyi maintains one condition for his return: receiving an apology from Foundation leadership.

The Foundation has reportedly stated that providing such an apology is not possible and created an ongoing standoff between the developer and organization.

Stańczak Approaches Geth Developers About Salary Cuts and Job Changes

Tomasz Stańczak reportedly reached out to the remaining Geth developers weeks ago urging them to start applying elsewhere since there were concerns about compensation.

Stańczak reportedly stated that developer pay was too high these days and inquired if members would accept lower pay, Szilágyi claims.

The Ethereum Foundation co-executive director reportedly inquired which developers would depart if half of their wages were cut.

This approach created uncertainty for the team members regarding their future work and compensation levels in the Foundation context.

In spite of all these claims of internal conflict on the matter of salary cuts and potential exits, Stańczak officially declared that the Foundation has no plans to take Geth out of active development.

Geth remains valuable client software with a skilled community of contributors who assist in protocol security, he confirmed.

Stańczak promised to continue Geth maintenance and upkeep and assured that he would render the client faster and more effective.

This is a public position that is at variance with Szilágyi’s claims of private negotiations on team restructuring and compensation realignment.