Recently, two prominent Ethereum researchers, Justin Drake and Dankrad Feist, resigned from their advisory roles at the restaking platform EigenLayer. This decision follows concerns from the Ethereum community regarding potential conflicts of interest and their commitment to neutrality.
Ethereum Researchers Withdraw to Avoid Conflicts of Interest
In May 2024, Justin Drake and Dankrad Feist, both pivotal figures in Ethereum research, announced they had joined EigenLayer as advisors. EigenLayer, a rapidly growing restaking platform within the Ethereum ecosystem, ranks among the top three DeFi projects on Ethereum by Total Value Locked (TVL), according to DefiLlama data.
Drake, who received token compensation reportedly worth “millions of dollars” with a three-year lock-up period, faced community speculation that his advisory role might create a conflict of interest given his primary position at the Ethereum Foundation.
In a statement, Drake expressed his regret, saying, “I want to apologize to the Ethereum community and my colleagues at the Ethereum Foundation for the drama I’ve caused. In hindsight, this was an unwise decision on my part.” He resigned from EigenLayer in September 2024, reaffirming his commitment to maintaining independence and focusing on Ethereum’s core network.
Feist, who also stepped down, shared that while he saw EigenLayer as a promising project, he felt his efforts were best directed solely toward Ethereum’s development. He stated, “Ethereum has significant work to complete, and I am fully committed to focusing on this.”
Aya Miyaguchi, Executive Director of the Ethereum Foundation, supported their decision, stating that the Foundation would expedite the creation of formal policies to address conflicts of interest. “Relying solely on culture and individual judgment is not enough; we are working on formal policies to address these issues,” Miyaguchi said.
Drake also reaffirmed his stance on neutrality by announcing he would decline future advisory roles and personal investments. This move had an immediate market impact, with the price of EIGEN tokens dropping over 5% in the past 24 hours and nearly 20% over the past week.
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