Aya Miyaguchi (宮口あや), a well respected figure in the crypto space, has announced her departure from her current role as the Executive Director of Ethereum Foundation, transitioning into a newly created position as President of the organization.

In a blog post published Tuesday, Miyaguchi stated that her new role will focus on expanding EF’s institutional relationships and strengthening its long-term vision.

“This new opportunity will allow me to continue supporting EF’s institutional relationships and to expand the reach of our vision and culture more broadly.”

From a high school teacher to a crypto educator

Born in Japan, Aya Miyaguchi's early life pivoted around education and literature. After graduating with a degree in literature, Miyaguchi started a career as a high school teacher in her home country.

As an educator, she always encouraged her students to explore the world beyond Japan. Feeling that teachers should lead by example and experience diverse fields, she left her teaching position and moved to the United States.

In the US, she pursued graduate studies, a decision that later led her to the blockchain industry.

Miyaguchi'e exploration into crypto started back in 2011, when she first dabbled into Bitcoin. Although back then block chain was still an exotic concept, the idea of having a decentralized and autonomous currency intrigued her.

By 2013, Miyaguchi joined Kraken as the managing director of Japan's operation. In this role, she educated regulators, venture capitalists, media and the public about the future of crypto.

It was also during her time at Kraken that she founded the Japan Blockchain Association, where she advocated for the growing crypto community in Japan and showcased her networking skills.

It was also then where her connection with Ethereum began after she met Vitalik Buterin and made news in 2013. Back then Vitalik was just 19, and was writing for Bitcoin Magazine and promoting Ethereum's white paper.

Intrigued by Vitalik's vision of an open-sourced platform that would enable smart contracts and decentralized applications. Following this encounter, Miyaguchi was later invited by Vitalik to join the Ethereum Foundation as Executive Director in 2018.

This position required her to coordinate the foundation's activities and support core research, development, grants and community engagements.

As the Executive Director, Aya Miyaguchi made major contributions to the Ethereum, including Ethereum's transition to proof-of-stake with "The Merge" In 2022.

She also suggested the concept of Ethereum as an "Infinite Garden", a decentralized creative ecosystem that thrives on community.

Leadership Criticism and Community Discontent

However, Miyaguchi’s leadership has not been without controversy. Some critics within the Ethereum community argue that Ethereum has lost momentum in attracting developers, especially compared to rival blockchains like Solana. Others have linked Ethereum’s lagging price performance to EF’s strategic direction under her leadership.

This leadership shakeup follows months of growing internal and external pressure, with some voices in the community calling for deeper governance reforms within EF.

In response to criticism, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin publicly stood up to defend Miyaguchi’s leadership on X (formerly Twitter), praising her role in maintaining Ethereum’s "steadfast commitment to its mission and values."

Buterin also reaffirmed Ethereum’s commitment to decentralization, rejecting calls for a more corporate-style governance model.

Despite the leadership transition, EF has not yet named a successor for the executive director position, leaving uncertainty around the foundation’s next steps.

Could Miyaguchi save the plunging Ethereum price

Stepping into her new role, Miyaguchi has promised to address some of the major challenges that has plaguing the organisation, causing the price of Etherum to plunge.

Her mission starts with the expansion of Ethereums institutional partnerships and the expansion of the company's global influence while staying true to its core values.

Miyaguchi hopes to strengthen the organisation by attracting the strongest coders, dreamers and doers into the organisation while giving them the autonomy to do their work with minimum micromanaging.

Miyaguchi also believes that with a de-centralised mode of management, it would allow Ethereum to connect with crypto purists and gain the trust of the community.

She believes that when trust grows, so does investor confidence. And this would hopefully lead investors to hold long term investment with the organisation.

Another major criticism of Ethereum that Miyaguchi hopes to resolve is the high fees and sluggish speeds that have driven some users to competitors.

Ethereum has been in the news lagging behind Bitcoin's 112% pump in 2024, with only a 42% climb. Miyaguchi says that with her new role as the president, she is going to change that while not yet revealing how.

What does the future of Ethereum hold?

Given Ethereum 's currency trajectory, it seems that the outlook of Ethereum still remains bullish despite all the price fluctuations.

Major financial players, such as hedge funds and assets managers are still accumulating ETH, showing that there is still vitality and life in cryptocurrency.

Aya Miyaguchi's journey's from a high school teacher to the President of the Ethereum Foundation serves as an inspiring story that you don't have to be a tech wizard or financier to build something revolutionary.