Multiple opinions | Aya Miyaguchi, can Ethereum regain market confidence?

Author: Fairy, ChainCatcher

Edited by: TB, ChainCatcher

On February 25, the Ethereum Foundation (EF) ushered in a major personnel change: Aya Miyaguchi will be promoted from executive director to chairman, and the foundation's leadership structure will also undergo changes.

According to Onchain Foundation Chairman MAX KORDEK, as the new chairman, Aya will be responsible for preparing, presiding, leading and ultimately signing resolutions for all Foundation committee meetings.

These conferences cover all the important affairs of the Foundation, including:

• Overall work report by the Chairman, Vice Chairman and Executive Director
• Risk Assessment (review and update the Foundation’s risk assessment chart)
• Financial affairs (current positions and expenditures, token realization plans, investment strategies, etc.)
• Legal affairs (mainly the approval of legal contracts and agreements)

As an important figure in the Ethereum Foundation, can Aya Miyaguchi help Ethereum regain its market confidence? It has become a topic of concern to the industry.

ChainCatcher has compiled the multi-faceted views of Encrypted KOL and collected Aya’s colleagues’ evaluations of her promotion for readers’ reference.

1. Views from all parties

1. Unsightly voices:

CoinMamba@coinmamba:

Aya Miyaguchi was hired to do an unsuitable job, did not do a substantial job, and was able to earn a salary of 7 years (referring to the time he was executive director). She can continue to do nothing and act as a symbolic role. Who is the new executive director?

Chen JianJason @jason_chen998:

Aya's promotion is not surprising, because Vitalik has a "stubborn" personality. The more he is questioned and pressured, the more he sticks to his choice. There is no clear vote or report on Aya's promotion to chairman, but it is more determined by Vitalik.

Mindao@mindaoyang:

This chairman has opened up a new position, responsible for institutional relations and government public relations, and is more like the "Director of the Party History Research Institute." The idea of ​​transferring jobs has a strong tone of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

2. A positive voice:

MAX KORDEK @maxkordek, Chairman of the Onchain Foundation (formerly Lisk Foundation):

Overall, this is a positive adjustment for the Ethereum Foundation. If Ayako is trustworthy (I don't know her very well), this may be a good thing for Vitalik, as he can reduce the administrative work of FC meetings (such as preparing meetings, signing documents, etc.) and devote more energy to what he is best at - blockchain research.

Ethereum investor DCinvestor@iamDCinvestor:

Vitalik and the Ethereum Foundation listened to the community and made many positive changes over the past few weeks, which deserve recognition.

I believe Aya has always performed her duties sincerely based on the direction she accepted, and under her leadership, the professionalism of the Ethereum Foundation has been significantly improved compared to when she first took over. Thanks for her contribution.

But now, I look forward to new leadership and new ideas to push Ethereum back to dominance in innovation and practical applications.

Minibus | Web3 & AI@web3xiaoba:

In the Ethereum community, many people believe that Aya's "debt of duty and incompetence" has led to the ETH price being sideways in the past four years. Few people know that Aya is an OG who entered the Crypto market in 2013. She joined the Ethereum Foundation in February 2018 and was in a state of being ordered.

Ebunayo.eth @Ebunayo08:

As discussions on Ethereum and the Ethereum Foundation (EF) continue, I had feared that Ethereum’s culture and philosophy would be affected in the process of change. As many have pointed out, there are indeed many things that need improvement. Aya himself also mentioned at several meetings that there are still many things that need to be promoted and optimized, but the change needs to be carried out step by step.

Aya's presidency means that there is a high probability that Ethereum's culture will be able to continue, and other areas that need adjustment will also be improved. It also shows Vitalik has a lot of trust in her leadership.

3. Neutral voice:

XinGPT@xingpt:

Aya's appointment and removal this time was not "the central government has decided that you will be the general secretary", but "I will feel at ease when you do your business."

1. This was not a whim, and the transition from the current executive director to the transfer of chairman has been planned for a year.
2. As executive director of the Ethereum Foundation, Aya adopts a unique leadership approach that she calls the "subtraction principle"—proactively weaken her powers, avoid centralized decision-making, while maintaining Ethereum's open culture and decentralized spirit.
3. Aya’s leadership style was deeply influenced by Zen philosophy. It is somewhat similar to the "governance by inaction" advocated by Taoism, which is in sharp contrast with the traditional top-down management method.
4. On February 26, 2025, Aya Miyaguchi announced her transition from executive director to chairman, and she also wrote the article "A New Chapter of Infinite Garden", which is regarded as her future declaration. Aya emphasized the need to take "philosophy" as the guide and maintain Ethereum's values.

Eric Conner@econoar, an early developer of Ethereum:

I can't tell whether the leadership changes in Aya and the Ethereum Foundation (EF) are positive or negative. No one knows what the position of "Chairman" means; no one knows what the new leadership structure is; no one knows who is the new executive director; we can only wait and see.

4. The voice of colleagues:

Joseph Schweitzer, EF 's foreign relations director, @JBSchweitzer:

Aya’s goal is to create effective operational processes for EF to succeed; to make decisions that maintain the core values ​​and spirit of Ethereum’s soul even in the face of a storm—inspiring ecosystem growth, community ownership and decentralization. Thanks Aya.

Ethereum Foundation member Nathan Sexer @NathanSexer:

During my brief contact with Aya’s Deva the Devcon Unicorn, I can prove that she has been a guiding force in maintaining and strengthening Ethereum culture and values, which is also a key part of the success of devcon/nect.

Aya is a highly respected and authoritative voice in EF, and her way of interacting with the community—with hope, clear and uncomplaining—full of her wisdom and personal charm. We often focus on shortcomings, but we should focus more on achievements that have been achieved. Aya has made outstanding contributions. Keep going up and keep going forward.

The future is unknown, but the problems facing Ethereum are still serious

Different views correspond to different positions. It is still unknown whether Aya's promotion can bring a turning point for Ethereum, but Ethereum does currently face a series of severe challenges: overall innovation stagnates, management is accused of being "solid and self-satisfied", ecological applications' competitiveness is gradually weakening, and user growth is far from meeting the expected goals.

In addition, from the data, the flow of funds of Ethereum spot ETFs is not optimistic, and has encountered net outflows of funds for three consecutive days. Data shows that 9 Ethereum spot ETFs have flowed out a total of US$137 million.

Source: Farside Investors

The bulls in the contract market were tragically washed away. From February 24 to 25, the amount of Ethereum contract liquidation in two days reached US$380 million, of which US$330 million were long and US$50.99 million were short. The decline in ETH price triggered a large amount of leveraged trading liquidation.

Contract positions decreased from $25.5 billion on February 24 to $21.8 billion on the 26th, indicating that traders are closing leveraged positions and reducing risks.

Source: Coinglass

Profit address decreased. According to IntoTheBlock data, after the price of ETH fell, only 55% of Ethereum addresses are currently in profitable state, while 40% of addresses have fallen. This is in sharp contrast to the high in May 2024, when Ethereum's profitable address ratio was once as high as nearly 90%. The decline in the past few days has brought many holders back to the loss range, and market sentiment has further deteriorated.

With the recent two hacking incidents combined with the overall market plunge, ETH price fell by 16%. Ethereum is under multiple pressures. Whether it can break through the current dilemma in the future and re-stimulate market confidence remains to be seen.