Uniswap founder criticizes Ethereum Foundation’s new advisory group amid community concerns

Uniswap founder Hayden Adams criticized the newly founded Ethereum Foundation’s (EF) advisory group, titled “Silviculture Society.”

He said the initiative was not what the community was looking for and called on the Foundation to improve its communication by taking a clearer and more direct approach.

He said in a Feb. 28 X post:

“Honest, direct feedback: flowery language and a counsel of random people on twitter is not what people have been asking for.”

Adams added that he is not criticizing the 15 names chosen for the advisory group but rather the idea and message behind the initiative, which he believes does not allay the community’s recent concerns.

The Ethereum community has voiced concerns over the perceived disconnect between the Foundation’s current initiatives and the practical, transparent communication they expect.

There is also unease about the ongoing structural changes and treasury management practices, which many feel have direct implications on ETH’s market performance.

Direct and clear communication

According to an EF statement, the Silviculture Society comprises names from outside the Foundation who have been picked to provide “informal counsel.” The goal is to ensure the Foundation maintains its “core values of open source, privacy, security, and censorship resistance.”

Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum’s (ETH) co-founder, responded to Adams’ post, saying:

“It is an experimental effort to create more channels for builders and other community voices to influence the EF, and in this case the scope is core cypherpunk and regen values. They have already given advice on timely and critical topics such as wallet security.”

He added that the EF does not pay the Silviculture Society, and the group has a one-year term. Additionally, Buterin shared that more initiatives and structures will be formed to capture community feedback.

Following Buterin’s explanation, Adams called the initiative “reasonable.” However, reiterated that EF needs to communicate in a “more direct and clear” format like Buterin’s response.

Restructuring efforts

The creation of the Silviculture Society comes amid a broad movement to restructure the Ethereum Foundation, which has consequently led to concerns among the community regarding its stability and long-term vision.

On Feb. 25, Aya Miyaguchi stepped down from her role as EF executive director and moved to a new position as the Foundation’s president. The Foundation has yet to name a replacement.

Miyaguchi and Buterin also mentioned creating a new “leadership structure” for EF but did not share further details about the plan.

The community has scrutinized the EF over the past few months for ETH’s underperformance in 2024 compared to other major cryptocurrencies.

The frequent selling of ETH raised questions about the effectiveness of the EF’s treasury management, as the public realization of these assets has impacted ETH’s price.

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