Ethereum Developer Highlights Centralisation Around Buterin

Ethereum's ecosystem rules depend on its co-founder, he stated.

The success of projects within the network of the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation hinges on proximity to a select group of individuals and a few venture funds. These form a “ruling elite” around Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, stated Geth client developer Péter Szilágyi.

Since y’all spammed my timeline full of #Ethereum existential crises, here’s a letter I sent to EF leadership in a year and half ago 😬.

(link in next post because Twitter…)

— Péter Szilágyi (@peter_szilagyi) October 19, 2025

He published a letter on GitHub, sent to the leadership of the non-profit Ethereum Foundation (EF) in 2024. In it, Szilágyi noted that startups avoid public offerings, instead turning to a single group of people for initial investments or advisory roles.

According to him, the rules of the entire ecosystem depend on the opinion of the Ethereum co-founder.

“The key to success is to gain the support of the right five or ten people around Vitalik. […] Everyone already understands that if you can get Bankless to invest, they will sing praises on their podcast. […] We intended to create a world of equal opportunities, but all the most successful projects are directly supported by the same people,” wrote the developer, calling Buterin “a victim of his own success.”

Szilágyi also criticised the EF’s staffing policy, describing working at the organisation as “a poor financial decision.” His total compensation for six years of work amounted to $625,000.

The expert believes that the foundation deliberately underpays, taking advantage of employees’ principles. As a result, this leads to key specialists leaving for commercial projects.

Earlier, well-known Ethereum developer Dankrad Feist announced his move to Tempo, a new blockchain platform developed by Stripe and Paradigm.

Szilágyi concluded that he sees no way to rectify the current situation. He stated that the “ruling elite” will never relinquish control over the protocol. He also noted that he has repeatedly faced issues for voicing his opinion.

“Although we are the oldest team in the entire ecosystem, I don’t see much appreciation for us staying. And the sentiments on X also very elegantly summarise this feeling: we are glad you built an empire for us, now step aside and let the people who can bring us money take over,” he wrote.

Lubin Defends Venture Funds in Ethereum

Corporations and venture funds are necessary for the ecosystem of the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation as a bridge for the influx of traditional capital. This opinion was shared by ConsenSys founder Joseph Lubin.

Yes, the goal of @paradigm and many other VCs is to suck as much value as possible from the Ethereum and broader ecosystem, while also adding value to the ecosystem in the service of maximizing their own gains. Paradigm is particular good at this. Subgoals include progressing the… https://t.co/B5wsIYGtNq

— Joseph Lubin (@ethereumJoseph) October 20, 2025

He responded to comments by Ethereum developer Federico Carrone, who earlier stated the risks of growing pressure from companies like Paradigm on the largest smart contract network.

Lubin agreed that the goal of such firms is to extract maximum value to increase their own profits. However, he believes their “support for decentralisation is proportional to commercial viability.”

“As Carrone rightly pointed out, Paradigm’s ambition to gain control over Ethereum has been evident for several years. However, I see no reason for concern and consider such behaviour natural and inevitable,” the expert noted.

The ConsenSys founder urged the community not to worry. He described the current situation as a “gold rush around corporate blockchains,” which serves as recognition from the traditional economy and promotes the mass adoption of the technology.

Lubin is confident that corporate involvement is necessary to achieve full decentralisation and create a “secure global information infrastructure.”

“While we need venture funds—they serve as a convenient bridge for the influx of global capital into our ecosystem. However, soon more advanced and fair on-chain platforms with healthy tokenomics will emerge, forcing companies to adapt to new rules if they wish to maintain their relevance,” he added.

Earlier in October, Lubin called Ethereum the best asset for corporations.