Ethereum Foundation researcher resigns as EigenLayer advisor, apologizes to the community and reiterates commitment to neutrality

By Sam Kessler , CoinDesk

Compiled by: Felix, PANews

Ethereum Foundation (EF) researchers Dankrad Feist and Justin Drake have resigned from their advisory roles at EigenLayer, months after a controversy erupted in the Ethereum community over a potential conflict of interest.

As one of the hottest emerging projects in the crypto space, EigenLayer provides a platform for crypto applications by “borrowing” the security of Ethereum through a new concept called “restaking.”

Ethereum is the largest smart contract blockchain and the second-largest blockchain after Bitcoin. The nonprofit Ethereum Foundation (EF) manages the development of Ethereum, and Drake and Feist are among its most prominent researchers.

This spring, Drake and Feist publicly confirmed that they both held advisory roles at EigenLayer. They were responsible for helping EigenLayer guide upcoming projects and its roadmap. In return, Drake and Feist received a large number of EIGEN tokens.

The controversy surrounding these “returns” reveals deep divisions within the crypto industry over conflict of interest norms, within the Ethereum community, and among some of its most prominent figures.

On Saturday, both researchers revealed that they had given up their advisory roles at EigenLayer.

Feist said on the X platform: "I have decided to resign from the Eigenlayer advisory position. While I believe this position was negotiated in good faith with the goal of ensuring that Eigenlayer and Ethereum are aligned, I understand that people view this relationship differently and that for many, the resulting conflict of interest is difficult to reconcile with my role as an Ethereum researcher. I hope that Eigenlayer will continue to complement Ethereum well in multiple ways. But there is still a lot of important work to be done on Ethereum, and I will focus all my energy on completing it. This will enable me to implement Danksharding and other important projects more effectively."

Additionally, Drake clarified that his advisory position was terminated before any of his EIGEN tokens were vested, and stated in the X post that he would focus on L1 research and coordination.

“In September, I resigned from my advisory position at EigenFoundation. I would like to apologize to the Ethereum community and EF colleagues for the drama I caused. In hindsight, this was a poor decision on my part.”

The Ethereum Foundation regularly provides grants to projects building on the Ethereum ecosystem and holds a significant position in the overall development of the network.

Some community members have raised concerns that EigenLayer’s payments to foundation researchers amount to an attempt to influence the broader ethereum network’s development roadmap.

In addition to resigning from his advisory role at EigenLayer, Drake has pledged not to make investments or take on advisory roles in the future.

“I will be declining all future advisory positions, angel investments and security committees. This is a personal decision that goes beyond the recent EF-wide conflict of interest policy, not because I have been asked to do so, but because I want to demonstrate my commitment to neutrality.”

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