To save Ethereum from its downturn, co-founder Vitalik Buterin announced on the 18th a significant reform of the Ethereum Foundation’s leadership structure. He also rarely acquiesced to community suggestions by purchasing Milady 9286 to use as his X account profile picture, suggesting that his previous ideological stance may be wavering.
(Background Reminder: V God saves Ethereum: Supporting ETH to engage with funds, institutions, and countries from an “asset perspective”!)
(Background Supplement: V God urgently restructures the Ethereum Foundation! Aave member suggested “those who don’t give their all should roll” as a hint?)
In an effort to rescue Ethereum from its unfavorable position, Vitalik Buterin announced on the 18th that he is undertaking major reforms to the leadership structure of the Ethereum Foundation, aiming to strengthen the foundation’s role in Ethereum’s development. He stated that he would support Ethereum-related companies in proactively engaging with funds, institutions, and countries to encourage them to purchase ETH.
Notably, after announcing the significant adjustments to the Ethereum Foundation, a community user tweeted a suggestion to support Milady, perhaps to dispel the curse against ETH and ultimately save Ethereum. In response, Vitalik Buterin surprisingly acquiesced, stating that he had purchased Milady 9286 and used it as his profile picture on X. He further added:
“Done. Can the curse be removed now? Please.”
done https://t.co/DuHrZgpCZI remove curse pls — vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) January 18, 2025
Is V God starting to panic?
Amid growing concerns within the Ethereum community, Vitalik Buterin’s rare follow-up to community suggestions by purchasing Milady and changing his X account profile picture clearly indicates that “V God seems to be genuinely anxious.” In the past, he repeatedly emphasized that “the price of ETH is not important,” but now he faces unprecedented market and political pressures, especially after former President Trump chose to issue meme coins on Solana instead of Ethereum, which has put V God in a challenging position.
Reports have previously indicated that in the cryptocurrency strategic reserve list possibly planned by the Trump administration, there are USDC, SOL, and XRP, but no place for ETH, which has become a hot topic of discussion within the community. Now that Trump has opted to issue coins on Solana, community concerns have intensified, worrying that Ethereum’s development force may “bleed significantly” without recognition as the “American chain.”
This undoubtedly represents a heavy blow to Ethereum, which has long held the top position among public chains. In the past, Vitalik Buterin often donated the profits from meme coins, and he personally maintained a distance from high-risk speculation culture. In contrast, Solana’s official stance has been to embrace meme coin culture, enthusiastically declaring, “Come play memes on our chain,” and stands out in trading due to its high-speed transactions and low fees. Additionally, since SBF was incarcerated, Solana’s notorious outages have seemingly disappeared. Now, with Trump’s endorsement, Solana has rapidly gained momentum as a “meme coin headquarters.”
For Ethereum, the high transaction fees have long been criticized, and now, with the continuous loss of favorable political and market conditions, the situation is worsening on multiple fronts.
On the other hand, Vitalik Buterin has traditionally held a reserved attitude towards NFTs. He previously believed that if cryptocurrencies were only remembered as a group of people trading digital monkeys and celebrity photos, it would be a disappointing outcome. However, now faced with severe challenges to Ethereum’s overall ecosystem, he has finally chosen to accept community suggestions, purchase the Milady NFT, and change his profile picture, humorously requesting the community to “quickly help remove the curse.”
Extended Reading:
V God is disappointed: Cryptocurrencies cannot only be used to trade digital monkeys and celebrity photos; practical applications are the future.
In response, the trading bot project Pepe Boost lamented that when NFTs were popular, V God looked down on NFTs; when MEMEs were popular, V God also looked down on MEMEs. Now that NFTs have ended and MEMEs have gone to SOL, they expressed:
“V God has lost a connection to the grassroots. We hope he can return to the mainstream of crypto and lead the industry to explore more, rather than floating in the air.”
When NFTs were hot, V God looked down on NFTs. When MEMEs were hot, V God looked down on MEMEs. Now that NFTs have ended and MEMEs have gone to SOL, V God has lost a connection to the grassroots. We hope he can return to the mainstream of crypto and lead the industry to explore more, rather than floating in the air. pic.twitter.com/TCaJ0RvYsE — pepe boost (@PepeBoost888) January 18, 2025
Such actions indicate that Vitalik Buterin’s ideological stance has been shaken. For a long time, he emphasized decentralization first, technological advancement first, and that price was not important. However, now he is undertaking major reforms to the Ethereum Foundation and expressing a willingness to negotiate ETH’s asset positioning with institutions and countries. This shows that V God is also human; amidst the clamor of the crowd, he can only acquiesce (though one might wonder if it’s too late?), realizing that he cannot solely follow the technological and idealistic path and must honestly consider market dynamics and political factors.
