On February 25, 2025, the Ethereum Foundation (abbreviated as EF) officially announced today that its Executive Director, Aya Miyaguchi, will step down from her current position to become the Chair of the Foundation. This appointment marks a significant adjustment in the leadership of the Ethereum Foundation and opens a new chapter for this non-profit organization that supports the development of the world's second-largest blockchain network. Meanwhile, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin stated that the reform of the Foundation's leadership structure has been in preparation for nearly a year and promised to announce more details soon. This change comes at a time of intense discussion within the Ethereum community regarding the transparency of the Foundation's management and its strategic direction, with external expectations about the significance and impact of this transition.

From Executive Director to Chair: Aya Miyaguchi's Seven Years of Dedication

Aya Miyaguchi has served as the Executive Director of the Ethereum Foundation since 2018. Over the past seven years, she has led the Foundation in achieving several milestone projects, including coordinating Ethereum's historic transition from Proof of Work (PoW) to Proof of Stake (PoS) — "The Merge" — as well as promoting client diversity, research and development, and collaboration within the global developer community. Her leadership style is known for being steady and low-key, emphasizing Ethereum's spirit of decentralization and long-term value rather than short-term competition and market hype.

However, this style has not been without controversy. From late 2024 to early 2025, some members of the Ethereum community criticized the Foundation for its slow progress in promoting network scaling solutions (such as sharding and Layer 2 technologies) and for failing to effectively respond to Ethereum's competitive pressures in the cryptocurrency market — for example, Solana's market capitalization grew by 200% in the past year, while Ethereum only increased by 47%. Some voices even pointed fingers at Miyaguchi, accusing her of lacking the decisiveness and competitiveness of a "wartime CEO" in her leadership. In response, Vitalik Buterin defended her in a January social media post, stating that such criticisms were "scapegoat attacks" and emphasized that he is the ultimate decision-maker of the Foundation's leadership team.

In a blog post on February 25, Miyaguchi reflected on the community controversies of the past few weeks, admitting that these discussions "revealed profound truths about Ethereum in tense moments." She wrote, "The responsibility of the Ethereum Foundation is not to control the network, but to ensure its independence and resilience by reducing imbalances and avoiding the dominance of a single entity." She emphasized that as the new Chair, she will continue to strengthen Ethereum's culture and values and promote connections between the Foundation and the broader global community and institutions.

Vitalik Buterin expressed high recognition of Miyaguchi's contributions on the social media platform X: "She has achieved tremendous accomplishments during her seven years as Executive Director. The role of the Executive Director is to create an environment where others can shine; every successful execution of an Ethereum hard fork, the successful hosting of developer conferences (Devcon), and the steadfast commitment to Ethereum's culture are all results of her leadership." He also revealed that Miyaguchi proposed the idea of transitioning from Executive Director to Chair more than a year ago, and this transition is part of a long-term plan.

Leadership Structure Adjustment: A New Attempt at Decentralization?

This leadership change is not an isolated event but part of a broader organizational adjustment within the Ethereum Foundation. Since 2024, there have been increasing questions from the community regarding the Foundation's transparency and decision-making efficiency. For example, Foundation researchers Justin Drake and Dankrad Feist sparked controversy by accepting advisory roles with EigenLayer, with some members believing this could undermine Ethereum's neutrality. Additionally, the Foundation's fund management has also come under scrutiny — although it recently deployed 50,000 ETH (approximately $80 million) to protocols like Aave, Compound, and Spark to show support for the ecosystem, critics still argue that the Foundation relies too heavily on selling ETH to maintain operations.

To address these challenges, Vitalik stated in January that the Foundation has begun establishing a "formal board" to enhance technical expertise and communication efficiency with ecosystem participants. In his latest statement, he reiterated that this reform is still underway, and details of the new leadership structure "will be announced soon." There is speculation that this may include bringing in more external experts or decentralizing some functions to multiple independent entities to achieve a more decentralized governance model. Crypto media outlet The Block reported that some community members proposed that former EF researcher Danny Ryan — who led Ethereum's transition to PoS — take over as Executive Director, but Vitalik currently seems more inclined to retain direct control over the leadership team until the new structure is implemented.

Who is Aya Miyaguchi? An Extraordinary Journey from Teacher to Blockchain Leader

Aya Miyaguchi's career is nothing short of legendary. Born in Japan, she was once a high school teacher before entering the crypto industry, gaining experience at platforms like Kraken. In 2018, she was personally appointed by Vitalik Buterin as the Executive Director of the Ethereum Foundation, a decision that was surprising at the time due to her relatively low public profile in the blockchain space. However, Miyaguchi quickly proved her capabilities. She not only excelled in technical coordination but also strengthened Ethereum's global developer community by promoting events like Devcon and Devconnect.

Her management philosophy is heavily influenced by her educational background, emphasizing collaboration over competition. In an interview with WIRED, she stated her rejection of a "culture of competition and victory," a statement that later became a focal point of community criticism. Nevertheless, her supporters argue that it is this very philosophy that has ensured Ethereum maintains its core values — decentralization and openness — in the rapidly changing crypto world. A report from ChainCatcher reviewed her journey, describing it as "a journey from Japanese classrooms to the forefront of blockchain, showcasing extraordinary resilience and vision."

Conclusion: A New Starting Point for Ethereum?

Aya Miyaguchi's promotion to Chair of the Ethereum Foundation is both a recognition of her personal achievements and a strategic adjustment for the Foundation to address internal and external challenges. As she stated in her blog, "Ethereum's leadership is reflected in the community, not imposed from above." With Vitalik's support and the commitment to a new leadership structure, this transition may bring new stability and vitality to Ethereum. However, its success will need to be tested by time and facts. For the millions of Ethereum users and developers worldwide, this is undoubtedly a moment worth closely watching.

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