Ethereum civil war heats up, core developers' exit seen as "ominous sign"

By Osato Avan-Nomayo, DLNews; Compiled by Wuzhu, Golden Finance

Ethereum has lost its luster — at least for one of its top developers.

Ethereum’s star developer Nick Conner has bid farewell to the project amid the discontent of several stakeholders.

“I’m not a .eth guy anymore,” Conner wrote on X on Tuesday.

“.eth” is the “.com” for Ethereum supporters, a subtle nod that turns holders’ online usernames into a mark of loyalty to the blockchain project. It derives from the suffix that users get when they create an Ethereum service name for their wallet address.

This is the latest setback for Ethereum. Over the past year, it has failed to keep up with rivals Solana, XRP and Bitcoin. Despite optimism that the launch of a spot Ethereum exchange-traded fund will replicate the success of the U.S. Bitcoin ETF, Ethereum’s price has lagged behind its competitors.

There are even rumors that XRP could eventually replace Ethereum as the second-largest cryptocurrency.

Self-Exile

Connor’s self-exile from the ranks of the so-called “Ethereum bigwigs” was seen as a clear sign of a larger crisis brewing within the project’s community.

Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, called the news a “bad sign” for Ethereum.

Connor co-wrote EIP-1559, a groundbreaking change to Ethereum’s code that altered the network’s transaction fee market.

Connor explained his decision, saying there was a misalignment between the project’s leadership and the wishes of the wider community.

Many ethereum stakeholders have expressed similar sentiments and directed their displeasure at the Ethereum Foundation, a nonprofit organization that oversees the development of the project.

The organization has been criticized for failing to support the second-largest cryptocurrency.

Angry Ethereum Supporters

Critics have derided the foundation for its large budget and low network utilization. They lamented that these flaws have led to ethereum losing out to major competitors.

Foundation Executive Director Aya Miyaguchi has even faced calls for her to resign as head of the foundation.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said changes are underway at the Ethereum Foundation's leadership team.

However, Buterin blamed prominent ethereum supporters for making venomous comments about Miyaguchi and other stakeholders.

“If you ‘keep the pressure on,’ you’re creating an environment that is toxic for top talent,” Buterin wrote on Twitter.

He warned the dissenting crowd to tone down their rhetoric or he would have no interest in fulfilling their wishes.

Ethereum to $10,000?

To be sure, the outlook for Ethereum isn’t rosy.

When its price broke above $3,500 for the first time in months in November, analysts thought it could be the start of a larger rally.

One of the catalysts that could propel ETH to $10,000 by 2025 is Donald Trump’s election victory, according to British bank Standard Chartered.

Other bullish signs include growing institutional interest in Ethereum and cryptocurrencies in general.