The Ethereum Foundation is going through a big leadership change. After seven years as Executive Director, Aya Miyaguchi is now stepping up as President.
She shared the news on February 25, making it an important moment for the foundation’s leadership.
Aya Miyaguchi Becomes Ethereum Foundation’s President
In a recent blog post, Aya Miyaguchi shared that her new role as President will allow her to focus more on building relationships with institutions and spreading Ethereum’s ideas and values.
“It’s been incredible to see how much Ethereum has grown. When I first joined the Ethereum Foundation (EF) seven years ago, there were fewer voices in the space. Most of the work—both in building and securing the network—was handled by a smaller group of people in fewer places,” she wrote.
Miyaguchi noted that Ethereum has come a long way since then, evolving into a decentralized and diverse ecosystem. Today, a wide range of people—including developers, Layer 2 teams, app builders, and local communities—are shaping its future.
She believes this growth has made Ethereum stronger and reinforced its commitment to being a truly community-driven network.
“This mix of technical and social innovation isn’t just something Ethereum has—it’s the reason it continues to thrive,” she said.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin also praised Miyaguchi for her leadership, saying she has played a key role in keeping Ethereum’s culture and organization stable.
“Everything the EF has achieved—the smooth execution of network upgrades, collaboration between different client teams, Devcon, and Ethereum’s strong commitment to its mission—has been possible in part because of Aya’s leadership,” Buterin wrote.
The decision to change Miyaguchi’s role wasn’t sudden. Talks about the transition started a year ago, and last month, Buterin confirmed that major leadership changes were in the works.
However, not everyone in the Ethereum community was happy with the direction of EF’s leadership. Some, including core developer Eric Conner, pushed for Danny Ryan to be named Executive Director instead.
Things got heated when a small group of users started harassing Miyaguchi, even calling for her resignation. In the middle of the controversy, Conner ended up leaving the Ethereum Foundation.
Ethereum Pectra Upgrade Fails on Testnet
At the same time, Ethereum’s leadership transition is happening alongside some big technical challenges. Recently, the Holesky test network ran into a major issue during the Pectra upgrade.
According to Ether World, the problem was caused by a mistake in how Execution Layer (EL) clients tracked deposit contracts. This error meant that most clients couldn’t properly follow validator deposits, which disrupted the network’s ability to reach consensus. However, a few smaller clients continued to produce valid blocks, exposing differences in how various clients handle the network.
The issue was limited to Holesky, meaning Ethereum’s mainnet and other test networks weren’t affected. While it caused some disruption, the incident also gave developers important insights into Ethereum’s ability to handle and learn from technical setbacks.
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