Ethereum core developers criticized the foundation's compensation system, saying their total compensation over six years was only $625,000

Péter Szilágyi, an Ethereum core developer and lead maintainer of the Geth client, publicly criticized the Ethereum Foundation (EF)'s internal compensation system and governance structure, expressing his "deep disappointment with the EF." Szilágyi stated that "working at the EF has been a poor financial decision" since joining, stating that his total compensation over six years at the Foundation was only $625,000 (pre-tax and without incentives), a period during which the total market capitalization of ETH grew from zero to approximately $450 billion. He noted that this low salary structure forces members who genuinely care about protocol development to seek external compensation, thereby creating the risk of "protocol capture by interest groups." Szilágyi further criticized the EF for issues such as unfair compensation, lack of transparency, and concentrated power, claiming that the Foundation relies too heavily on "people who stay motivated by ideals" and maintains an internal culture of opacity by concealing compensation information. He also pointed out that the Ethereum ecosystem has become a small circle centered around Vitalik Buterin, with a small number of opinion leaders and VC firms controlling major projects and decision-making. Szilágyi bluntly stated that Ethereum has moved from idealism to realism, and its governance and incentive structure "has designed the protocol into a system that can be captured", and said that "it is difficult to see a bright future."