Dankrad Feist and Justin Drake, prominent researchers at the Ethereum Foundation, announced that they have resigned from their advisory positions at EigenLayer, which is behind the altcoin EIGEN. This development follows long-running conflict of interest discussions in the Ethereum community. EigenLayer stands out as an innovative platform that allows crypto projects to use the security of Ethereum through a method called “re-staking”.
Tension between EigenLayer and Ethereum Foundation
EigenLayer is rapidly gaining popularity in the crypto world as a project that allows Ethereum to reuse staked funds to provide security to Ethereum-based applications. Although the project is still in the development process, it has attracted attention and is attracting the attention of many players in the crypto ecosystem. However, EigenLayer’s relationship with the Ethereum Foundation caused discomfort among many community members. As a non-profit organization responsible for the development of the Ethereum network, the Ethereum Foundation is expected to be sensitive to independence and impartiality in its close relationships with projects.
It was announced that Drake and Feist signed a consultancy agreement with EigenLayer earlier this year and were rewarded with EIGEN tokens in return. However, these altcoin allocations have raised conflict of interest concerns in some segments of the Ethereum community. The Ethereum Foundation’s involvement in projects affecting the network, or its employees’ involvement in such projects, is viewed with skepticism by some community members. Especially when it comes to projects such as EigenLayer, which could potentially affect the direction of Ethereum’s development, the transparency and ethical dimension of such agreements becomes even more important.
Drake and Feist’s altcoin steps
Feist and Drake, who left their consulting roles with EigenLayer, stated that they took these concerns in the community into account. In his statement on the social media platform X, Feist stated that this task was accepted in good faith and to ensure that EigenLayer is compatible with Ethereum. However, he stated that this relationship caused a reaction beyond expectations in the Ethereum community. Feist said he realized that this conflict of interest was incompatible with his role as a researcher at Ethereum, so he decided to leave his position.
Drake made a similar statement, apologizing for the drama he caused to the community and his colleagues at the Ethereum Foundation. He also stated that the EIGEN tokens had not yet been transferred to him before he decided to resign from his advisory role. This statement caused Drake’s decision to be interpreted as an ethical stance beyond financial interests. It is known that the Ethereum Foundation regularly grants grants to projects that support the development of the network. However, some community members are raising concerns that the tokens EigenLayer pays researchers are intended to influence the direction of the Ethereum ecosystem.
Following this incident, Drake made a commitment not to accept any advisory or investment roles in the future. “I will reject all consultancies, angel investments and security councils in the future,” he said in his statement on the X platform. Stating that this step is a personal stance that goes beyond the conflict of interest policies recently implemented by the Ethereum Foundation, Drake stated that he wanted to signal impartiality and reliability.
