Ethereum core developer Zak Cole launched the Ethereum Community Foundation (ECF) to address perceived gaps in the Ethereum Foundation’s governance and funding priorities. The ECF explicitly aims to ‘do what the Ethereum Foundation won’t’ by supporting grassroots development and underfunded technical improvements. This initiative responds to community concerns about excessive institutional influence over Ethereum’s development roadmap.
The foundation prioritizes projects enhancing decentralization, including client diversity initiatives and peer-to-peer infrastructure development. By focusing on these areas, the ECF seeks to counterbalance corporate interests that have dominated recent protocol upgrades. Cole’s announcement at EthCC emphasized restoring Ethereum’s cypherpunk ethos through community-led governance models rather than top-down decision-making.
This splinter organization reflects deepening ideological divisions within Ethereum’s ecosystem following its transition to proof-of-stake. While the Ethereum Foundation concentrates on scalability and enterprise adoption, the ECF champions privacy features and permissionless access. The parallel governance structure could accelerate innovation but risks fragmenting development resources during a critical phase of network evolution.
