In an effort to revive Ethereum’s declining momentum, co-founder Vitalik Buterin announced a significant reform of the Ethereum Foundation’s leadership structure on the 18th. He also made a rare move to heed community suggestions by purchasing Milady 9286 and using it as his profile picture on X. This shift seems to indicate a potential reassessment of his previous ideological stance.
(Background: V God Saves Ethereum: Supporting ETH’s “Asset Perspective” to Engage with Funds, Institutions, and Nations!)
(Background Supplement: V God Urgently Restructures Ethereum Foundation! Aave Suggests Members “Should Leave If Not Fully Committed” – Is This a Hint?)
To save Ethereum from its downturn, Vitalik Buterin announced on the 18th that he is implementing major reforms to the leadership structure of the Ethereum Foundation. The goal is to strengthen the Foundation’s role in Ethereum’s development. He also stated that he would support Ethereum-related companies in proactively engaging with funds, institutions, and nations to encourage them to purchase ETH.
Notably, after announcing significant adjustments to the Ethereum Foundation, a community user tweeted suggesting support for Milady, perhaps to lift the curse on ETH and thereby save Ethereum. In response, Vitalik Buterin surprisingly agreed, stating that he has purchased Milady 9286 and set it as his profile picture on X. He further expressed:
“Done, can we lift the curse now? Please.”
donehttps://t.co/DuHrZgpCZI
remove curse pls
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) January 18, 2025
Is V God starting to feel anxious?
Amid widespread concern within the Ethereum community, Vitalik Buterin’s rare follow-up on community suggestions—acquiring Milady and updating his X profile picture—clearly indicates that “V God seems genuinely anxious.” Previously, he repeatedly emphasized that “ETH price does not matter,” yet he now faces unprecedented market and political pressure, especially after former President Trump seemingly undermined him by choosing to promote meme coins on Solana instead of Ethereum. This has put V God under significant strain.
Reports have emerged that the cryptocurrency strategy reserve list potentially planned by the Trump administration includes USDC, SOL, and XRP, but not ETH, which has become a hot topic of discussion in the community. Now, with Trump opting to issue coins on Solana, community concerns have been exacerbated, fearing that Ethereum’s development power may “suffer significant losses” without being recognized as the “American chain.”
This is undoubtedly a heavy blow for Ethereum, which has long held the leading position among public chains.
In the past, Vitalik Buterin has often donated the earnings from meme coins and maintained a distance from high-risk speculative cultures. In contrast, Solana’s official stance is to fully embrace meme coin culture with slogans like “Come play memes on our chain,” distinguishing itself with high-speed trading and low fees. Moreover, after SBF was incarcerated, Solana’s notorious outages disappeared as well. Now, with Trump’s endorsement, Solana has quickly formed a robust “meme coin headquarters.”
For Ethereum, the long-criticized high transaction fees have been exacerbated by the loss of political and market advantages, resulting in a continually deteriorating situation.
On the other hand, Vitalik Buterin has always been cautious regarding NFTs. He previously expressed concern that if cryptocurrencies were merely remembered for trading digital monkeys and celebrity photos, it would be a disappointing outcome. However, in the face of severe challenges to Ethereum’s overall ecosystem, he has finally chosen to accept community suggestions, purchase a Milady NFT, and humorously request the community to “help lift the curse.”
Extended Reading:
V God Disappointed: Cryptocurrencies Should Not Be Used Solely for Trading Digital Monkeys and Celebrity Photos; Real Applications are the Future.
In response, the trading bot project Pepe Boost lamented that when NFTs were popular, V God dismissed them; when memes were trending, he also disregarded them. Now, with NFTs waning and memes shifting to SOL, they concluded:
“V God has lost some groundedness, hoping to return to the mainstream of crypto and lead the industry in more explorations, rather than floating in the air.”
When NFTs were popular, V God dismissed NFTs.
When memes were trending, V God dismissed memes.
Now, it’s all over: NFTs have ended, and memes have gone to SOL.
V God has lost some groundedness.
Hoping to return to the mainstream of crypto and lead the industry in more explorations, 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 has emphasized decentralization first, technological advancement first, and that price does not matter. However, he is now undertaking sweeping reforms of the Ethereum Foundation and expressing a willingness to negotiate ETH’s asset positioning with institutions and nations. This shows that V God is also human; amidst the clamor of public opinion, he can only adapt (though one might wonder if it is too late?), recognizing that he cannot solely pursue a technical and idealistic path, but must honestly consider market dynamics and political factors.
