Informal Ethereum Foundation vote ends with 99% approval for Danny Ryan leadership

Through an informal on-chain voting process that commenced on January 21, the Ethereum community voted Danny Ryan as the next leader of the Ethereum Foundation. The vote, initiated by the “votedannyryancom” campaign, comes at a time when EF is facing criticism for its leadership and governance strategies.

According to the website counting the votes, as of January 30, a total of 341 wallets collectively holding 51,209 ETH participated in the vote. Their holdings were valued at approximately $164.4 million. 

Of the cumulative votes, 99.98%, representing 331 wallets, believe Ryan should take up the Ethereum Foundation leadership role. Only 10 voters, holding ETH worth $28,500 disputed the former EF researcher’s proposed appointment..

Ethereum community push for Danny Ryan to lead Ethereum Foundation

In a January 21 post on X, Quadrata co-founder and developer Fabrice Cheng told his followers he had built a site to provide the Ether family with a platform to voice their opinions about Ryan and the EF’s leadership.

Many in the Ethereum community believe Danny Ryan is the leader we need.

I built a site where you can vote (no gas) with ETH across major chains to support Danny as the next EF Executive Director.

📢 Please RT to spread the word!

🔗 Link & Demo below. pic.twitter.com/MkLoVNu8qR

— fabda.eth (@fabdarice) January 21, 2025

Cheng pointed out that many in the community believe Ryan is the leader the foundation “needs.” Over the last nine days, votes have come in favor of the proposal, but since it is unofficial, it is highly unlikely the organization will act on it.

Merely hours after the voting website went live, Ryan himself took to X, pleading with the community to “fight its battles with respect and reason.”

“With or without me, the EF is evolving and for the better. You’ve been heard, but vitriol is ultimately harmful to this process,” he surmised.

Miyaguchi bashed for lack of credibility

Since the start of the year, naysayers have called for the removal of Aya Miyaguchi, the current executive director of the Ethereum Foundation, who has held the position since 2018.  The pressure to replace Miyaguchi with Ryan has grown louder, with some supporters even resorting to online threats against her.

One Ether investor and influencer on X supported the calls for Ryan to become EF’s executive director because he “led Ethereum through the most difficult transition in history,” reffering to the Ethereum Merge, where the network moved to a Proof-of-Stake consensus, in 2022. 

“He is respected by both developers AND community members, and he lives and breathes Ethereum,” the influencer wrote. “Aya is frankly respected by neither. I’m sure she’s a nice person, but she doesn’t have the vision or credibility to shepherd the EF through the times to come.”

The public outrage from the community prompted Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin to speak up, expressing his disapproval of the attacks.

“This is not how this game works,” Buterin wrote in a January 21 post, reiterating that he holds the authority to make decisions regarding EF leadership. “The person deciding the new EF leadership team is me.”

Prominent industry leaders like Joseph Lubin, an Ethereum co-founder and founder of the development powerhouse ConsenSys, have also publicly issued their support for the former EF member. 

“We are now in a very different kind of environment in our industry. And it requires a very different kind of Ethereum Foundation,” Lubin asserted. 

His support for Ryan is rooted in the belief that the organization needs to evolve in order to beat other networks like Solana and Bitcoin, whose coins skyrocketed during the end-2024 market bull run, while Ether holders saw little gains.

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