A notable blockchain researcher has pushed back on recent criticisms of the Ethereum Foundation, arguing the organization is performing exactly what it was designed to do. In a post on X titled “Leave the Foundation Alone,” William Mougayar—a Toronto-based investor, researcher and best-selling author—contends that ETH, Ethereum and the Ethereum Foundation occupy distinct roles, each following its own trajectory.
Mougayar frames the asset as money, Ethereum as the underlying infrastructure, and the Foundation as a non-profit steward aiming to guide the protocol toward a future where it becomes less central to the ecosystem. He warns that conflating these roles leads to inaccurate predictions and misplaced anger about ETH’s direction.
Key takeaways
- The Ethereum Foundation’s mandate, according to Mougayar, is protocol stewardship and research funding, not marketing or price support for ETH.
- Critics’ demand for the Foundation to promote ETH or court institutions is likened to asking the Internet Engineering Task Force to run ads for TCP/IP.
- In recent weeks, the Foundation completed a third OTC ETH sale to BitMine, moving 10,000 ETH at an average price of about $2,292 (roughly $22.9 million), bringing total BitMine dealings to roughly $47 million.
- Unstaking activity accompanied the sales: 17,035 ETH unlocked (about $40 million), and an additional 21,270 ETH was unstaked from Lido earlier this month (nearing a 70,000 ETH staked milestone in that period).
- ETH was trading around $2,117, up about 4.7% on the day, but remains over 57% below its all-time high of $4,953 reached in August last year, according to CoinMarketCap data.
EF’s role in hardening the protocol, not marketing the asset
In his X post, Mougayar emphasizes that the Ethereum Foundation is deliberately distinct from both the ETH asset and the broader Ethereum network. He describes the EF as pursuing a “subtraction path”—a strategy aimed at making the protocol more autonomous and less dependent on a centralized actor over time. “It is hardening the protocol so the world does not need it so much. It is shipping upgrades. It is funding the research that nobody else funds,” he wrote.
The analogy is pointed: critics who expect the EF to actively market ETH or court institutions are, in Mougayar’s frame, effectively seeking a governing body to replace market signals. He likens that expectation to asking the IETF to run large-scale promotional campaigns for TCP/IP—a comparison meant to separate technical governance from promotional ambition.
Market moves and investor implications
The timing and nature of the Foundation’s treasury activities have long been a subject of debate within crypto circles. Earlier this month, the EF completed its third over-the-counter sale of ETH to BitMine Immersion Technologies, offloading 10,000 ETH at an average price of $2,292. The deal, valued at about $22.9 million, followed two prior transactions—5,000 ETH in March and another 10,000 ETH the week before—bringing the aggregate to around $47 million in ETH sales to BitMine in recent weeks.
These sales have coincided with unstaking activity that supporters frame as treasury management rather than a market-moving signal. The Foundation unstaked 17,035 ETH worth roughly $40 million, and earlier in the month, an additional 21,270 ETH were unstaked from Lido, valued at nearly $50 million. The pace of unstaking, combined with the sales, has fed ongoing questions about the Foundation’s influence on ETH’s price trajectory.
From a price perspective, Ethereum stood around $2,117, up about 4.7% on the day of the report. While this marks a positive swing in the short term, ETH remains significantly below its all-time high of $4,953 recorded in August last year, underscoring that Foundation actions are just one of many factors shaping the token’s broader market behavior. CoinMarketCap’s data underscores the longer-term context facing investors who weigh the asset as a potential long-term holding against ongoing shifts in staking, liquidity and supply dynamics.
What this means for holders and developers
Taken together, Mougayar’s perspective and the Foundation’s recent activity highlight a broader shift in the Ethereum ecosystem: governance and funding mechanisms are decoupling from price-centric narratives. For investors, the takeaway is twofold. First, a more autonomous protocol—achieved through upgrades and sustained, targeted research funding—could reduce systemic reliance on any single institution, potentially contributing to long-run resilience. Second, the Treasury’s use of ETH through OTC sales and unstaking moves introduces a continuing element of treasury management that may constrain near-term supply dynamics and, by extension, price sensitivity to major moves by the EF.
Market observers will be watching how the EF aligns its actions with the long-term health of Ethereum’s core protocols, including upcoming upgrades and research funding decisions. While critics may view such treasury activity as a headwind for price, proponents argue it reflects prudent stewardship aimed at preserving decentralization and protocol integrity over time. As with previous cycles, the ultimate impact will hinge on a mix of on-chain developments, macro conditions and the evolving regulatory environment surrounding crypto asset management.
For now, Mougayar’s argument reframes the debate: the Ethereum Foundation is not an advertising arm but a foundational institution whose work is intended to outlast any single market cycle. The coming quarters will reveal whether this approach strengthens Ethereum’s long-term viability and how it shapes the appetite of investors and builders alike.
Readers should monitor upcoming EF upgrades, research funding announcements and treasury activity, which together will illuminate how the foundation navigates its shrinking centrality while continuing to support the protocol’s evolution.
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