Ethereum Price Forecast: Lido co-founder hints at Second Foundation amid EF leadership criticism

Ethereum price today: $3,260

• Lido co-founder shares a new "Second Foundation" following Ethereum Foundation leadership criticism.
• Donald Trump's World Liberty Financial staked 10,000 ETH, placing it among the top 0.1% stETH holders.
• Ethereum could rally 20% if it overcomes a descending trendline resistance and key hurdles near the $3,550 and $3,770 levels.

Ethereum (ETH) is trading near $3,270 as staking protocol Lido co-founder Konstantin Lomashuk hinted at the creation of a Second Foundation. This follows recent community backlash against the Ethereum Foundation (EF) concerning several issues plaguing the top smart contract blockchain network.

Ethereum gets a "Second Foundation" following leadership criticism

The pressure for changes in the Ethereum Foundation leadership, the non-profit organization that supports the Ethereum blockchain, has increased in the past week following key challenges.

Some of the issues discussed by community members include calls for the resignation of the EF's executive director Aya Miyaguchi, criticism of its selling activity and the roll-up centric roadmap that prioritizes scaling via layer 2 networks, centralization concerns and refusal to listen to community suggestions.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin highlighted that while the EF may not be able to handle all the issues, it could support other organisations that aim to represent Ethereum.

"EF should not ‘midcurve’, it should confidently represent the aspects of Ethereum that it can be effective at representing, and deliberately create and nurture open space for other orgs to represent the other aspects of Ethereum," wrote Buterin in an X post on Wednesday.

Most core contributors, including Uniswap founder Hayden Adams, suggested a spin-off organization that handles research and technical developments while the EF focuses on ecosystem development and support.

Following the suggestions, staking protocol Lido and P2P.org co-founder Konstantin Lomashuk shared the account of a newly created "Second Foundation" in an X post.

While some community members think it's overall bullish for ETH, others have expressed scepticism, stating that the largest staking protocol Lido launching a Second Foundation isn't what Ethereum needs.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump's World Liberty Financial recently staked 10,000 ETH on Wednesday, placing it among the top 0.1% stETH holders, according to blockchain analytics platform Arkham.

Ethereum Price Forecast: ETH could bounce off $3,216 support to stage 20% rally

Ethereum sustained $20.37 million in futures liquidations in the past 24 hours, per Coinglass data. The total amount of long and short liquidations accounted for $16.58 million and $3.79 million, respectively.

Ethereum has been trading within the $3,200 and $3,550 range with the 100-day and 50-day Simple Moving Averages (SMAs) serving as support and resistance on either side. If ETH bounces off the $3,216 support level again, it could tackle the descending trendline resistance extending from December 16.

ETH/USDT daily chart

A move above this trendline while establishing it as a support, could see ETH rally nearly 20% to test the critical resistance near $4,100. The level is obtained by measuring the height of the descending trendline to the $3,216 support level, and then projecting it upward from a potential breakout point.

However, it has to overcome key hurdles near the $3,550 and $3,770 resistance levels to complete this move.

On the downside, ETH could collect liquidity near the $3,000 psychological level to fuel an upward movement.

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) momentum indicator is just below its neutral level, indicating a slightly dominant bearish pressure. Meanwhile, the Stochastic Oscillator (Stoch) is just above the neutral level.

A daily candlestick close below the $2,817 resistance level will invalidate the bullish thesis.