Элитное окружение Виталика Бутерина угрожает децентрализации Ethereum Translation: Vitalik Buterin’s Elite Circle Poses a Threat to Ethereum’s Decentralization

The success of projects within the second-largest cryptocurrency network is closely tied to a select group of individuals and a few venture capital funds. This «ruling elite» revolves around Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, as stated by Geth client developer Peter Siladji.

He shared a letter on GitHub addressed to the leadership of the Ethereum Foundation (EF) in 2024. In this letter, Siladji pointed out that startups tend to shy away from public offerings, opting instead to seek initial investments or consultancy roles from a narrow circle.

According to him, the rules governing the entire ecosystem are heavily influenced by the views of the Ethereum co-founder.

*“The key to success is getting the backing of the right five or ten people surrounding Vitalik. […] It’s clear that if you can get Bankless to invest, they will sing praises about it on their podcast. […] We intended to create a world of equal opportunities, but the most successful projects are all directly supported by the same group of people,”* the developer remarked, describing Buterin as a “victim of his own success.”

Siladji also criticized the staffing policies of the EF, depicting work within the organization as “a poor financial decision.” Over his six years of service, his total compensation amounted to $625,000.

The expert believes the foundation deliberately underpays, taking advantage of the integrity of its employees. Consequently, this leads to the departure of key specialists to commercial ventures.

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

Siladji 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 mentioned he has repeatedly encountered issues for voicing his opinions.

*“Even though we are the oldest team in the entire ecosystem, I don’t feel any particular appreciation for our staying power. The sentiments in X also elegantly sum up this feeling: we’re glad you built an empire for us, now step aside and let those who can bring us money take the lead,”* he wrote.

Corporations and venture funds are essential to the ecosystem of the second-largest cryptocurrency as a bridge for the influx of traditional capital, according to Joseph Lubin, founder of ConsenSys.

He responded to comments from Ethereum developer Federico Carrone, who had previously expressed concerns about the pressures companies like Paradigm are placing on the leading smart contract network.

Lubin agreed that the aim of such firms is to extract the maximum value for their own benefit, but he believes their «support for decentralization is proportional to commercial viability.»

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

The ConsenSys founder urged the community not to worry, labeling the current situation as a «gold rush around corporate blockchains,» which serves as acknowledgment from the traditional economy and fosters widespread acceptance of the technology.

Lubin is confident that corporate participation is necessary to achieve complete decentralization and create a “secure global information infrastructure.”

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

It is worth noting that at the beginning of October, Lubin referred to Ethereum as the best asset for corporations.