$1 Billion Plan to ‘Save Ethereum’ Surfaces as Lead Devs Quit

Ethereum architect Dankrad Feist proposes a new $1 billion organization to restore the network’s market competitiveness as a record-breaking staff exodus hollows out the Foundation’s research core. The cryptographer identifies a structural vacuum where the network’s founding entity intentionally cedes influence while rival ecosystems capture dominant market share.

Feist, the designer of the Danksharding scaling solution and a former senior researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, publicly called for the new entity on Thursday. He argued in a detailed technical brief that Ethereum requires a dedicated organization with substantial capital and clear accountability to compete effectively against rising Layer 1 rivals. The proposal required $1 billion in initial funding, a leader committed to a “fighting” mission, and an independent board. Feist suggested that permanent funding for the venture should derive directly from Ethereum staking revenue.

“The way to save Ethereum: The community needs to create an organization that is economically aligned with Ethereum and accountable to it,” Feist wrote in his announcement. He noted that the Ethereum Foundation currently holds less than 0.1 percent of the total ETH supply and lacks a direct flow of staking or fee revenues. The plan envisioned a governance mechanism where ETH holders possessed the power to adjust funding levels based on performance.

The proposal arrived during a period of significant personnel turnover at the Ethereum Foundation. Eight senior researchers and protocol contributors resigned during the first five months of 2026. Five of those departures occurred in May alone. The Foundation responded to the vacuum by appointing Will Corcoran, Kev Wedderburn, and Fredrik as co-leads of the Protocol Cluster. The leadership shifts followed the publication of the Ethereum Foundation Mandate in March 2026. The 38-page document explicitly stated the goal of reducing the organization’s relative influence over time to pass the “walkaway test.”

Market performance provided a catalyst for the internal debate. ETH traded near $2,100 in late May with a market capitalization of approximately $257 billion. The asset continued to trail Bitcoin and Solana in relative performance metrics throughout the year. Laura Shin, a prominent journalist in the sector, argued that any new organization required influence over tokenomics to succeed. “It won’t work unless it can influence tokenomics. That is the piece that has been missing, and that needs to be integrated with the tech,” Shin stated.

Feist countered that a community-led effort with enough legitimacy would eventually gain influence over the economic roadmap. Other researchers raised concerns regarding centralization and protocol control. The developer known as Potuz noted that a billion-dollar entity should not own the fork schedule or governance. Feist maintained that the current problem stemmed from the Foundation’s refusal to prioritize business development or market cap growth. He claimed the Foundation decided to avoid thinking about value accrual or ways to increase the total market capitalization of the network.

Chain Street’s Take
Feist is essentially calling for the end of the research-only era at Ethereum. The proposal highlights a painful reality: while the Foundation attempts to pass the “walkaway test” by shrinking itself, the market is voting for the aggressive business development and economic alignment seen in rival ecosystems. Creating a billion-dollar rival to the Foundation would force Ethereum to behave like a corporation rather than a laboratory. This transition is a high-stakes gamble that the network can survive a leadership purge while simultaneously reinventing its economic engine to stop the capital flight toward Solana.