Ethereum Foundation experiences internal rift, publicly disputes with Geth development team

The Ethereum Foundation organization (EF) has once again revealed internal rifts. Today, the online community witnessed a public dispute between Péter Szilágyi – the leader of the Geth development team – and the EF leadership, regarding the future of Geth, the most important execution client in the Ethereum ecosystem.

Geth (Go Ethereum) is the original execution client and still dominates the Ethereum network. It plays a core role in the operation of this blockchain as most of the network relies on Geth to validate and transmit blocks and transactions.

Internal conflicts continue within the Ethereum Foundation

Tensions escalated after Szilágyi accused that EF had repeatedly pressured the Geth team to separate and operate as an independent company. He stated that EF even proposed a $5 million funding to expedite this separation process — raising questions within the community about EF's long-term commitment to keeping Geth in-house.

Szilágyi – the leader of the Geth development process – criticized that EF is trying to abandon the core infrastructure to reshape its role, shifting its focus to research and education. He also stated that EF has quietly funded a parallel Geth development team at Nethermind without informing the current development team.

The controversy erupted when Szilágyi posted on platform X, revealing that EF has recently laid off four development teams and plans to "kill" Geth in the coming years. This information has caused concern within the Ethereum community, especially since Geth continues to play a crucial role in the stability of the entire network.

Tomasz Stańczak – co-CEO of EF – immediately dismissed the allegations that Geth would be removed. However, Szilágyi continued to counter with a series of articles refuting Stańczak's claims, while challenging the EF leadership to publicly deny previous discussions about separating Geth as well as funding a parallel development team. He asserted that these proposals had been presented multiple times, including a meeting in February 2025.

Is the Ethereum Foundation in a crisis of direction?

Recent controversies suggest that the Ethereum Foundation may be facing a profound strategic shift. According to some internal sources, EF is repositioning itself as a research-focused organization while easing its role in maintaining clients operating in real-world production environments.

However, critics warn that this change could threaten the stability of the software, especially if development teams are fragmented or budgets are cut.

Geth is still the dominant client, operating the majority of nodes on the Ethereum network. Therefore, any signs of instability in the development of Geth can raise concerns about the decentralization of the entire network.

For many years, the Ethereum community has continuously promoted the diversification of client implementations to reduce dependence on Geth. The EF has previously funded other teams such as Besu, Nethermind, and Erigon. However, secretly funding internal branches without transparency can negatively affect trust and governance mechanisms.

As of now, the Ethereum Foundation has not issued any official statements regarding the proposals to fork Geth or the support for the development team at Nethermind. The developments in this controversy may shape how Ethereum balances innovation, decentralization, and the responsibility of maintaining the core software in the coming years.

Thạch Sanh