A new manifesto from the Ethereum Foundation has sparked a significant debate within its community. The document reaffirms the nonprofit’s commitment to core cypherpunk principles like censorship resistance and privacy. This ideological stance is seen by some supporters as a reversal of recent efforts to drive commercial adoption on the $280 billion blockchain, causing division among prominent backers.
A new manifesto from the Ethereum Foundation has divided the blockchain’s most ardent supporters. The 38-page document reaffirms the foundation’s commitment to cypherpunk principles as non-negotiable foundations.
Some Ethereum backers argue this signals a turn away from recent transformation efforts. Under former co-executive director Tomasz Stańczak, the foundation pursued greater commercial success through business development and institutional engagement.
Kydo, a DeFi veteran and chief of staff at Eigen Labs, stated “The EF Mandate is a 180 from the direction the Foundation was heading under the recent leadership changes.” Critics include former foundation researcher Dankrad Feist, investor Mason Nystrom, and Yuga Cohler from Coinbase. They point to Ethereum’s lagging price compared to Bitcoin since the last bear market.
Awa Sun Yin, co-founder of Anoma, said “It’s not written by an organisation that’s finally growing up.” Supporters argue principles are essential for the technology’s original purpose. Independent researcher Pascal Caversaccio stated “Principles matter because without them every system eventually becomes another way to fucking control people.”
The debate intensifies as Ethereum faces competition from commercially focused blockchains like Tempo and Canton Network. Evgeny Gaevoy, CEO of Wintermute, said the foundation may be the only player able to keep the cypherpunk dream alive.
