Second Ethereum Foundation Researcher Acknowledges Advisory Deal Paid in EIGEN

As an analyst with extensive experience in the blockchain industry, I’m closely following the recent developments surrounding Ethereum Foundation researchers Dankrad Feist and Justin Drake joining the advisory board of EigenFoundation for EigenLayer. The potential conflicts of interest raised by this arrangement have sparked a heated debate on crypto twitter.

A leading Ethereum Foundation (EF) developer, Dankrad Feist, announced on Tuesday that he has taken up a remunerated position at EigenFoundation. This newly established non-profit organization aims to oversee EigenLayer, an innovative “restaking” protocol that has raised concerns among some as it could potentially introduce significant risks to Ethereum, the widely used smart-contracts blockchain.

In a recent update on platform X, Feist revealed that the role comes with a substantial allotment of EigenLayer’s latest EIGEN token, without mentioning exactly how many tokens he will be granted.

As a crypto investor, I’ve recently learned that a well-known Ethereum Foundation (EF) developer, Justin Drake, has revealed his intention to advise the EigenFoundation. He mentioned a substantial token incentive, which could potentially be worth more than my entire portfolio, valued in millions of dollars, that will vest over a three-year period.

The announcement in the news sparked a heated discussion on crypto Twitter regarding whether the EigenFoundation’s advisement could present a conflict of interest, considering Drake and Feist’s prominent roles at the Ethereum Foundation. Additionally, many blockchain experts are expressing concern over the potential risks that EigenLayer may pose to the system as a whole.

After raising this question on social media platform X, where I have a following of 724,000 people, I queried Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin about his thoughts on core developers or researchers receiving significant compensation from Ethereum-based projects to serve as advisors. I was particularly interested in situations where these projects might have potential conflicts of interest with Ethereum, either presently or in the future.

In reaction to Buterin’s post expressing his pride that Ethereum community doesn’t stifle free speech, this response was made.

Some posters on X applauded the Cobie call-out.

As a crypto investor, I appreciate @cobie’s unwavering commitment to ethical disclosures and holding individuals accountable, even in the face of harsh criticism and backlash from some in the community. Unfortunately, there are not many investors who are willing to take this stance.

Feist is a highly influential figure in the Ethereum community, with a significant impact on its discussions and technological developments. Notably, the cost-effective method for storing data, referred to as “danksharding,” was named in his honor.

In his blog post, Feist expressed that he holds a personal stance towards Ethereum’s Eigenlayer project, distinct from representing the Ethereum Foundation. His focus is on evaluating risks and advocating for decentralization, which may lead him to take opposing views on Eigenlayer. He disclosed receiving substantial tokens from this position, acknowledging the potential influence but affirming that it would not sway his opinions on protocol development. To maintain transparency, he urged the community to keep him accountable.

Feist conceded that some critics worry that the implementation of Eigenlayer could result in a dystopian scenario of hazardous restaking services. Additionally, there is a second risk associated with the extra burden placed on stakers who operate restaking services, which may eventually lead to centralizing tendencies.

In Feist’s opinion, Eigenlayer could significantly contribute to Ethereum if implemented with honest intentions. He believes the present team is committed to this goal, and he intends to monitor their actions closely to ensure they follow through.

As a crypto investor, I would express it this way: “In my disclosure, Drake shared that he intends to use all the proceeds from his advisory role with EigenLayer to support projects aligned with Ethereum’s mission. This could be through investments or donations. Furthermore, he mentioned that if EigenLayer were to diverge from Ethereum’s best interests, he would willingly terminate his advisory position.”

He added that due to my concern with EigenLayer’s risk management, my public stance will likely remain critical. I aim to provide constructive feedback, suggesting ways to address risks such as the decline of solo validators and the potential overloading of Ethereum consensus.

User @themandalore9 on X praised the transparency, but they noted that this individual was a prominent figure in opposing LSTs and reposting. They acknowledged his intention to remain critical, yet expressed concern that financial influence could impact one’s consciousness in unexpected ways.