The biggest news in the Ethereum ecosystem over the weekend was that two Ethereum researchers, Justin Drake and Dankrad Feist, simultaneously announced their resignation from the re-staking protocol EigenLayer and stated they would refocus their efforts on the development of the Ethereum mainnet. Following this incident, we may see more Ethereum core developers beginning to pay attention to conflict of interest issues. In fact, as reported two months ago, we pointed out that there were no conflicts of interest within Ethereum, as many members of the Ethereum Foundation were involved in the Optimistic rollup project.
(Ethereum developers discuss development dilemmas, revealing that Ethereum has deviated from its original path)
Ethereum Foundation researcher causes a stir by receiving project tokens
Justin Drake issued a statement on Twitter, indicating that his resignation from the advisory role at EigenLayer was primarily due to issues of neutrality, and he would leave the entire team. He mentioned that he had given up his advisor position at EigenFoundation as early as September and expressed his desire to apologize to the Ethereum community and EigenFoundation colleagues for the farce he caused. In hindsight, he acknowledged that it was a bad move for everyone.
In May this year, Ethereum researchers Justin Drake and Dankrad Feist simultaneously announced their roles as advisors to EigenLayer, acknowledging that they would receive a significant amount of tokens due to this position. However, they believe this does not constitute a conflict of interest, and the farce Justin Drake refers to is most likely about this matter.
Researchers collectively resign from advisory roles, declaring neutrality and no longer engaging in such activities
Justin Drake stated that in the future he will refuse all invitations for advisory roles, angel investments, and security committees. He mentioned that no one asked him to do this; it stems from his own commitment to neutrality.
Justin Drake finally pointed out that Ethereum's antifragility has always been a recurring source of inspiration, and this team always finds ways to become stronger. Challenges lie ahead in 2024. He optimistically believes that 2025 will be a fantastic year for Ethereum and a vibrant year for L1 development. He looks forward to meeting friends at Devcon.
Dankrad Feist also wrote on Twitter: "I have decided to resign from my advisory role at Eigenlayer. While I believe this role is dedicated to good-faith negotiations aimed at ensuring Eigenlayer maintains a good relationship with Ethereum, I know that people's perceptions of this relationship vary, and for many, the resulting conflicts of interest are difficult to resolve."
He stated: "Eigenlayer is a great project, and I hope it can continue to help Ethereum in many ways. But there is still a lot of important work to be done for Ethereum, and I will concentrate all my efforts to accomplish it. This will enable me to implement Danksharding and other important projects more effectively."
This article on Ethereum researchers resigning from the EigenLayer advisory role, ensuring no future project work, first appeared in Chain News ABMedia.
