Ethereum Foundation's New Mandate Has The Community Divided | Bankless Takes

Bankless

Technology, Tech News, News

4.7 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 17 March 2026

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The Ethereum Foundation’s new mandate has reignited one of Ethereum’s oldest debates: Should it stay laser-focused on cypherpunk values, or lean harder into adoption, product, and market share? Ryan and David debate CROPS, self-sovereignty, ETH as money, and whether the EF is protecting Ethereum’s soul or holding it back. ------ 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24 https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium ------ 🔮POLYMARKET | #1 PREDICTION MARKET https://bankless.cc/polymarket-podcast 🪐GALAXY | INSTITUTIONAL DIGITAL FINANCE https://bankless.cc/galaxy-podcast 🏅BITGET TRADFI | TRADE GOLD WITH USDT https://bankless.cc/bitget 🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTS https://thedefireport.io/bankless 🐇MEGAETH | 1ST REAL-TIME BLOCKCHAIN https://bankless.cc/megaeth ------ TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES 0:00 Intro 2:39 The EF Manifesto https://x.com/ethereumfndn/status/2032460726728573298 https://blog.ethereum.org/2026/03/13/ef-mandate https://ethereum.foundation/ef-mandate.pdf 10:18 Bullish Takes https://x.com/lay2000lbs/status/2033326038122438677 https://x.com/EvgenyGaevoy/status/2033160316079534510 https://x.com/malekanoms/status/2032599584640315706 https://x.com/lex_node/status/2033189653587677343 https://x.com/StaniKulechov/status/2032462574571204924 15:15 Bearish Takes https://x.com/dankrad/status/2032532067527856216 https://x.com/tayvano_/status/2032549549550743925 https://x.com/masonnystrom/status/2032558469786775993 https://x.com/yugacohler/status/2033225486847885758 https://x.com/hosseeb/status/2033603057347616869 https://x.com/divine_economy/status/2033547178803708371 27:43 Bullish Response to Bears https://x.com/divine_economy/status/2033547178803708371 https://x.com/dimabuterin/status/2033548385974735174 35:44 David’s Takes https://x.com/TrustlessState/status/2032832671206748551 47:29 Ryan’s Takes https://x.com/RyanSAdams/status/2032512531856503181 56:32 We Can do Both https://x.com/vibhu/status/2032574444724449605 https://x.com/TrustlessState/status/2033545623345967572 59:51 Closing & Disclaimers ------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures⁠

Transcript

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0:00.0	The Ethereum Foundation dropped a mandate document describing its values, describing its approach.
0:08.9	This caused a reaction, let's say. Some people loved it. Some people hated it. We're going to
0:14.2	discuss it today and give our takes because it is time for another bankless takes episode.
0:20.0	David, we do these things whenever we're feeling, what, like motivated, that there's
0:23.7	something to discuss?
0:24.8	What's the cadence of bankless takes episodes?
0:27.6	Yeah, when there is a conversation happening that you and I are like a part of or can
0:34.7	contribute to or otherwise have takes about.
0:39.0	Ethereum is a very frequent topic of this.
0:41.7	We've done other ones in the past as well.
0:43.2	I think maybe the most common reason or like way that these episodes come about is somebody
0:50.4	in the EF, usually Vitalik, releases a blog post, and everyone's talking about it,
0:55.4	and then therefore so do we, which is exactly what happened this week.
0:58.9	Galaxy operates where digital assets and next generation infrastructure come together,
1:02.8	serving institutions end to end. On the market side, Galaxy is a leading institutional platform,
1:07.5	providing access to spot, derivatives, structured products, defy lending, investment banking, and financing. With more than 1,600 trading counterparties,
1:14.5	Galaxy helps institutions navigate every phase of the market cycle. The platform also supports
1:18.9	long-term allocators through actively managed strategies and institutional grade staking and
1:23.3	blockchain infrastructure. That scale is real. Galaxy has over $12 billion in assets on the platform
1:28.3	and averaged a $1.8 billion loan book in late 2025, reflecting deep trust across the ecosystem.
1:34.1	Beyond digital assets, Galaxy is also building infrastructure for an AI-powered future. Its Helios
1:39.0	Data Center campus is purpose built for AI and high-performance computing, with more than 1.6 gigawatts of approved power
	...

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