Is the Ethereum Foundation Too Out of Touch to Save ETH?

Unchained

Laura Shin

Tech News, Business News, News

4.6 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 28 May 2026

⏱️ 71 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Vitalik finally said ETH the asset matters. Zak Cole’s reaction: ‘Should have said that five years ago.’ What broken cryptoeconomics mean for Ethereum’s future. ======================================================== Thank you to our sponsor! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Coinbase One⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: Get 20% off the first year of your Coinbase One annual plan at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠coinbase.com/unchained⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. ======================================================== The Ethereum Foundation has lost a wave of senior people in the span of a few months. A new co-executive director nobody has ever met is cutting budgets and releasing documents with a certain aesthetic. Vitalik published a post saying ETH the asset is the most high-value product of the blockchain. And David Hoffman sold his last ETH. Zak Cole, president of the Ethereum Community Foundation, and Greg Markou, co-founder of Sprinter and ChainSafe, join Laura Shin to sort through what’s a bear market tantrum, what’s a structural failure, and what would actually need to change for Ethereum to stop ceding ground to its competitors. The conversation covers the CROPS mandate, the rumored loyalty pledge, broken cryptoeconomics, and what Zak says the EF still refuses to admit. Host: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Laura Shin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, Host / Unchained Guests: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Zak Cole - Managing Partner, Number Group; President, Ethereum Community Foundation ⁠⁠⁠⁠Greg Markou - Co-founder and CEO, Sprinter; Co-founder, ChainSafe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	And when he left and he departed, they replaced him with this other mysterious fellow that nobody even knows and hasn't ever met or seen.
0:08.4	And now they're releasing a bunch of like, you know, like it was, now they're releasing a bunch of crazy deviant art looking shit that looks like they just walked out of a ketamine orgy.
0:18.5	You're talking about the mandate?
0:20.6	Yes.
0:21.7	That doesn't, it doesn't make any sense.
0:23.6	They could just say crops.
0:24.6	They can release some sort of blog posts.
0:26.4	They don't need to put some stuff out that's like, looks like they paid some furry
0:30.3	on Instagram to like come up with some sort of manga-based manifesto that like doesn't make any sense this is what it looks
0:40.4	like this looks insane yeah like i'll put it this way i don't think komash would have released this
0:51.0	Greg i know you want to keep it like not bearish.
0:56.1	We want to keep it bullish.
0:57.3	But you can't look at this and be like, oh, yeah, dude, that makes sense for financial future.
1:02.0	This is a great place to put your money institutions.
1:05.4	Like, we're totally in time.
1:07.4	Like, this is what they release to prove that they're like, that they have their
1:11.6	fingers on the false. Like, I would have left the organization too.
1:16.4	Hi, everyone. Welcome to Unchained, your no hype resource for all things crypto. I'm your host,
1:21.1	Laura Shin. Thanks for joining this live stream. Today's topic is the future of Ethereum,
1:26.9	the Ethereum Foundation, and Eith.
1:29.6	Here to discuss are Zach Cole, managing partner at Number Group and president of the
1:33.7	Ethereum Community Foundation, and Greg Marku, co-founder and CEO of Sprinter and co-founder of ChainSafe.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 19 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Laura Shin, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Laura Shin and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.