Ethereum Community Foundation Emerges as a Rival to Ethereum Foundation

Key Ethereum developer Zac Cole has launched a new entity, the Ethereum Community Foundation (ECF). One of its objectives is to elevate the price of ETH to $10,000.

According to Cole, ECF intends to fund infrastructure projects that enhance the ecosystem while simultaneously boosting the native cryptocurrency’s value. 

 “Ethereum is the foundation of decentralized finance and stablecoins. It represents the future of the monetary system. The vision of the Ethereum Foundation (EF) has brought us to this point. However, strategically, economically, and culturally, the foundation has lost its way,” stated the developer.  

Cole added that ECF will address the “gaps” left by the Ethereum Foundation and accomplish what the organization “cannot or will not.”

The founder of ECF believes the main network support fund overlooks ETH as an asset class. Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency’s price “directly ensures security functions,” thus Ethereum should aim for the $10,000 mark.

The new organization will provide grants to projects that increase “native coin burning, contribute to public goods, develop infrastructure, and scale the network.” To receive support, applicants must utilize the primary blockchain layer.

The ECF website suggests that priority is given to protocols without their own token and with an open structure. 

“The ticker is ETH. We are a price-oriented organization supporting an institutional-level asset,” states the foundation’s page. 

During the presentation, Cole mentioned Uniswap, Ethereum Name Service, and Optimism, which received support from EF but later launched their own venture-backed tokens.

The Ethereum Validator Association was named as one of the first grant recipients from ECF. The project promotes the interests of operational ecosystem participants through voting and prioritizing EIP.

Freedom Over Technology 

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin urged blockchain developers to focus on “liberating humanity” with their inventions, rather than creating more technically advanced tools.

He compared the ideals of individuality from the early internet era of the 1990s with modern blockchain values, noting that the original ideas of Web 2.0 have been lost. 

“People working in cryptography really need to think more actively about cryptocurrency as something that has social and moral consequences. […] If you are creating something, the first question to ask is: are you providing your users with freedom?” Buterin emphasized. 

Back in June, the Ethereum co-founder introduced a digital “pluralistic” identification system aimed at enhancing privacy protection.