Another Ethereum Researcher faces Criticism over Advisory Role with EigenLayer
Ethereum Foundation researcher Dankrad Feist has announced that he will be joining EigenLayer as an adviser.
Together with Justin Drake, I have recently decided to become an advisor to Eigenlayer, on the same conditions -- I am taking this position personally, not representing the Ethereum Foundation, and with a focus on risks and decentralization. I am therefore fully expected to take…
— Dankrad Feist (@dankrad) May 21, 2024
Feist posted on Monday on X that he had taken on an advisory role at Eigen Foundation with the same conditions as fellow Ethereum researcher Justin Drake, who had announced his advisory role on Sunday.
“I recently made the decision, along with Justin Drake, to join Eigenlayer as an advisor under the same guidelines. I am doing this on a personal basis, not on behalf of the Ethereum Foundation, and I will be concentrating on risks and decentralization. I am therefore fully expected to hold opposing opinions regarding Eigenlayer, he added.”
Similar to fellow researcher Drake, Feist is expected to receive a significant amount of tokens from this position. However, he faces criticism and backlash from the community due to potential conflicts of interest, which are similar to those of Drake.
According to Feist, he believes the tokens received will not change or influence his position on how the core protocol should be developed.
He added, “I believe that the community should know about this so that they can keep me accountable. If Eigenlayer is implemented by a person with high integrity, I believe it will be very beneficial to Ethereum. I trust that the present leaders have that in mind, and I intend to hold them responsible for it. When I think this is no longer the case, I won't think twice about speaking up or leaving my job.”
Fiest further shared a different view on restaking from that of Drake's and stated that they have been roughly the same since he developed them last year. “I would never take this position if I did not also see significant benefits to Ethereum that come from restaking when implemented well, such as how restaking can give some of the benefits of liquid staking tokens (LSTs) to individual stakers,'' he added.
In a detailed post on X, Rotkiapp's founder, Lefteris Karapetsas, expressed his thoughts and dissatisfaction with "the EF researchers." and stated that “Ethereum should not be captured by private interests.”
In summary, he stated that “I am really sad and disappointed. This is a clear conflict of interest among key decision-makers in Ethereum protocol development and should absolutely not be tolerated. Credible neutrality is not a good thing to have but a must-have in the development of the Ethereum protocol. Credible neutrality is a must. Researchers should either work for the EF and the base protocol or for the Eigenlayer (or any Eigenlayer). Not both.”
Even with the huge benefits attached to the position, Drake promised to donate or invest all of the money he made from his advisory role back into the Ethereum community. However, this was not disclosed as part of the conditions by Feist.
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