Former Ethereum Foundation researcher Dankrad Feist has called on the Ethereum community to build a new advocacy organization with at least $1 billion in funding, arguing it is the only credible path to protect ETH’s price performance amid a deepening leadership exodus. Feist’s proposal, published this week, lands as at least eight senior Foundation members have departed in 2026, with five exits coming in May alone. The Ethereum Foundation, the nonprofit historically tasked with shepherding the protocol, currently controls less than 0.1% of all ETH and receives no direct flow of staking or fee revenue from the network it built.
Staking is the process by which holders lock up ETH to help secure the network and earn rewards from transaction fees and newly issued ETH. Feist’s central argument is that this revenue stream should partially fund a new organization with explicit accountability to ETH holders rather than to discretionary Foundation grants.
Key takeaways
- Dankrad Feist proposed a new Ethereum-aligned organization funded with at least $1 billion and a permanent share of staking revenue.
- At least eight senior Ethereum Foundation researchers have resigned in 2026, including Carl Beek, Julian Ma, and former co-executive director Tomasz Stanczak.
- The Ethereum Foundation holds roughly 92,548 ETH, under 0.1% of total supply, and has been selling holdings to cover operating costs.
- ETH is trading in the $2,400 to $2,600 range as the community debates whether the exits signal brain drain or planned decentralization.
Published: May 24, 2026 16:00 UTC
What Feist is proposing
Feist, who left the Foundation earlier this year to join layer-2 startup Tempo, laid out four requirements for the new body in a public post. It needs at least $1 billion in credible funding, a competent leader willing to fight for the protocol’s commercial interests, a board accountable to ETH holders, and a permanent staking revenue stream that ties incentives directly to ETH’s price.
The proposal also calls for a governance mechanism that lets the staking revenue allocation be adjusted over time. Routing staking income into the organization permanently would tie its incentives to ETH’s market performance rather than depending on discretionary grants or asset sales, Feist argued in his post on X. “The way to save Ethereum is for the community to create an organization that’s economically aligned with Ethereum and accountable to it,” he wrote.
Why this matters now
Feist’s proposal arrives in the middle of the worst leadership exodus the Ethereum Foundation has seen. Carl Beek announced his exit on May 18 after seven years at the organization, with his last day set for May 29. Julian Ma resigned the same day after roughly four years on the protocol research and development team, citing contributions to mechanism design and the Fast Confirmation Rule that cut Ethereum layer-2 bridging time to 13 seconds.
Earlier in May, all three leaders of the Foundation’s Protocol cluster, Barnabe Monnot, Tim Beiko, and Trent Van Epps, said they were stepping back. Former co-executive director Tomasz Stanczak departed after just 11 months in the role. The departures follow former researcher Alex Stokes and an operations and writing lead known as Josh, bringing the 2026 total to at least eight senior exits.
The Ethereum Foundation has not issued a comprehensive public response to the departures, and that silence has fed community frustration. Critics argue the organization has lost focus on ETH as a commercial asset. Defenders, including Fundstrat’s Tom Lee, have called the turbulence short-term noise and pointed to spot ETH ETF inflows and institutional accumulation as the dominant signal for 2026.
The treasury problem
Part of Feist’s argument is structural. The Ethereum Foundation’s treasury holds roughly 92,548 ETH, a figure that has fallen as the Foundation sold holdings to cover operating costs. With ETH trading near $2,500, that puts the treasury at roughly $231 million, well below the $1 billion Feist says a credible advocacy body would need.
Because the Foundation does not collect staking or fee revenue from the network, its funding is finite. Every operating expense draws down its ETH balance. A staking-funded organization, by contrast, would receive a recurring share of network rewards and would not need to liquidate principal to operate.
Market and developer reaction
ETH is consolidating in the $2,400 to $2,600 range with near-term resistance at $2,700 and support holding above the 200-day exponential moving average, according to market data tracked by analysts this week. The price has not broken decisively in either direction despite the governance noise.
Developer reaction has split along familiar lines. Supporters argue the existing Foundation structure is misaligned with ETH holders and that a price-aware advocacy group is overdue. Critics counter that a billion-dollar treasury tied to ETH price would politicize protocol research and conflict with Ethereum’s credibly neutral ethos. Several departing researchers, including Feist, remain in the ecosystem as advisors or external builders.
What happens next
Feist’s post is a proposal, not a launched organization. No funding commitments have been announced and no leader has been named. The next signals to watch are whether large ETH holders or staking pools publicly endorse the framework, whether the Ethereum Foundation responds with a formal statement, and whether other former researchers back the new body.
FAQ
What did Dankrad Feist propose for Ethereum?
Feist proposed creating a new Ethereum advocacy organization with at least $1 billion in funding, a board accountable to ETH holders, and a permanent share of network staking revenue. He argued the structure would align incentives with ETH’s price and protect the protocol’s commercial interests as the Ethereum Foundation’s role shifts.
Why are researchers leaving the Ethereum Foundation?
At least eight senior researchers have left in 2026, citing reasons ranging from a shift toward external builder roles to disagreement over the Foundation’s strategic direction. Some, like Feist, have joined external projects such as Tempo. Others, including former co-executive director Tomasz Stanczak, departed after short tenures. The Foundation has not issued a unified explanation.
How much ETH does the Ethereum Foundation hold?
The Ethereum Foundation holds roughly 92,548 ETH, less than 0.1% of total supply. The treasury has been reduced over time as the Foundation sold holdings to cover operating costs. Feist cited this finite funding model as a core reason a new staking-funded organization is needed.
