A significant controversy has erupted within the Ethereum development community, with Péter Szilágyi, a former Ethereum Foundation employee and lead developer of the Geth Ethereum client, accusing the Ethereum Foundation (EF) of undermining its developers and creating "secret" teams. These allegations have sparked heated debate and raised serious questions about the foundation's management, transparency, and support for core development efforts.
Szilágyi's accusations, made public on June 11, 2025, center around several key issues. He claims the EF repeatedly attempted to sideline the core Geth development team. One of the primary allegations is that the Ethereum Foundation offered the Geth team $5 million to spin out into an independent company, an offer that Szilágyi and his team members consistently rejected. Szilágyi challenged Tomasz Stańczak, co-executive director of the Foundation, to deny these discussions, which allegedly occurred in February.
Furthermore, Szilágyi revealed that the Ethereum Foundation initiated and funded a second Geth development team within Nethermind, a separate entity, without informing the original Geth developers. According to Szilágyi, this parallel team operated as a completely independent fork, with no intended collaboration with the existing Geth team. He stated that he, along with Felix and Martin Holst Swende, were unaware of this secret project until November 2025. This revelation has ignited outrage within the Ethereum development circle, with many questioning the motives and ethics behind such a clandestine operation.
Szilágyi also claims he was terminated from the Ethereum Foundation after confronting Josh Stark, a Foundation representative, about the second "secret" Geth team. According to Szilágyi, the stated reason for his dismissal was "threatening to quit is unacceptable and destroys team morale."
The Geth client is a crucial piece of software within the Ethereum ecosystem, used by validators to execute Ethereum transactions. The allegations that the Ethereum Foundation actively worked to undermine its own Geth development team raise concerns about the stability and future of this critical infrastructure.
Adding to the controversy, Szilágyi accused Stańczak of encouraging Geth developers to seek employment at other companies, suggesting a deliberate effort to diminish the team's influence or replace them with more cost-effective alternatives. He directly challenged the Foundation leadership, demanding they acknowledge their actions. These accusations come in the wake of recent layoffs and rumored salary cuts within the Ethereum Foundation, further fueling speculation about internal restructuring and cost-cutting measures.
The Ethereum Foundation has yet to respond to requests for comment on these allegations. However, Tomasz Stańczak has stated on social media that "There is no plan to remove Geth. It is a great client software and a talented team contributing to protocol security." This statement has done little to quell the concerns raised by Szilágyi, who maintains that deeper efforts were underway to sideline the core Geth team.
This conflict highlights deeper governance and transparency issues within the Ethereum Foundation. As the entity responsible for maintaining the integrity of the Ethereum protocol, the Foundation now faces significant reputational scrutiny. The accusations of secret team funding and opaque decision-making risk undermining community confidence and trust in the Foundation's leadership. The dispute also raises concerns about the future of team cohesion within Ethereum's core infrastructure.
