On Feb. 25, Aya Miyaguchi announced her transition from Executive Director to President of the Ethereum Foundation (EF), a decision she made a year ago.

“These past few weeks have illuminated something profound about Ethereum — a truth that becomes clearest in moments of tension when debates arise over the network’s performance or ETH’s market value,” she said.

She added that teams and individuals across the globe have been speaking of Ethereum as if it were their own, but this tension is where the greatest strength lies:

“Ethereum belongs to everyone precisely because it belongs to no one.”

Today, I’m excited to turn the page and share that I will be closing this chapter as Executive Director of the @ethereumfndn soon and stepping into a new role as its President.

Let’s continue building in the garden.

Read my full statement :https://t.co/sn3Rpsatqy https://t.co/4Gz3WdLPLD

New EF President

She emphasized Ethereum’s core philosophies, which include decentralized ownership, a “Pace Layering” framework, and credible neutrality. She also reiterated the Foundation’s role: It doesn’t control all domains but works to identify gaps and uphold Ethereum’s core values.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin congratulated Aya, adding that the role of the executive director is to create an environment where others can shine and do their best work:

“So every success of the EF the steady execution of Ethereum hard forks, client interop workshops, Devcon, Ethereum’s culture and steadfast commitment to its mission and values, and more is in part a result of Aya’s stewardship.”

Miyaguchi reflected on her seven-year journey with EF, noting how Ethereum has grown from having fewer voices to becoming a diverse ecosystem that grows “like a garden, strengthened by its biodiversity.”

Tensions escalated at the EF in January when there was backlash against Miyaguchi and accusations of inefficiencies during her tenure. Buterin asserted his authority, but some core developers, such as Eric Connor, jumped ship and have since started fuelling more negative sentiment against Ethereum.

ETH Price Hammered

Those tensions have been amplified by the underlying asset’s dire performance in recent months. Despite Bitcoin reaching a record peak in 2025, Ethereum got nowhere near its all-time high and remains 50% down from it, wallowing at the same price levels it was at this time last year.

More recently, ETH tanked to $2,337 in the latest crypto market rout, its lowest price since early November, wiping out all post-US election gains.

The asset is currently hovering just below $2,500 and has lost 25% since the beginning of this year despite the bullish fundamentals such as a potential staked Ether ETF, purchases by the Trump family DeFi platform, and the upcoming Pectra upgrade.