The Ethereum Foundation has announced the creation of the EF Silviculture Society, an independent advisory group to protect values such as privacy and censorship resistance.
The new company, a collective of 15 external experts tasked with advising on the preservation of the foundational pillars of the network, was recently presented as part of the internal restructuring that the Foundation is undergoing to strengthen community connection.
According to the organization's official announcement in X, this society will operate as a symbolic "gardener" in the Ethereum decentralized ecosystem, providing strategic guidance to maintain its technical and ethical integrity and protect its core principles such as open source, security, privacy, and censorship resistance.
The initiative comes in a context of organizational changes within the Foundation. For example, in February, Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, appointed Aya Miyaguchi as executive president of the Ethereum Foundation after a year of internal adjustments that respond to criticism about the management of conflicts of interest and regulatory pressures. At the same time, the entity seeks to strengthen its ties with the community. As reported by Bit2Me News, the Foundation recently launched a job offer for the position of social media manager, a position aimed at improving communication with users and developers.
BUY ETHEREUM (ETH)All of these changes are happening as Ethereum faces technical challenges such as the implementation of the Pectra upgrade, whose testing phase on the Holesky network faced several setbacks. Therefore, the creation of the advisory company aims to balance innovation with unalterable principles in an ecosystem that exceeds $277.000 billion in market capitalization.
The EF Silviculture Society: Guardians of the “Infinite Garden”
Comprised of figures such as Matthew Green, a cryptographer at Johns Hopkins, and Lefteris Karapetsas, co-founder of Rotki, this society operates under an agricultural metaphor: its members “cultivate” Ethereum values while identifying vulnerabilities in their infrastructure. Their role, described as informal but critical, includes assessing centralization risks in lAYER 2 projects and proposing standards to protect user data.
“The roots of the infinite garden are nourished by soils rich in these core values. Ethereum’s success depends on having talented and committed developers building with these values in mind, and EF’s spirit and work has always been centered on them.”, the Foundation said.
According to the publication, the choice of external experts seeks to avoid institutional bias, which is why the members include pseudonymous profiles that represent the cypherpunk culture, historically linked to privacy in blockchain. This structure reflects a hybrid governance model: while the Foundation maintains its focus on technical development, the society acts as an ethical counterweight.
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EF's internal restructuring: Miyaguchi takes over as president amid changes
The promotion of Aya Miyaguchi to the Foundation’s executive presidency in February marks the culmination of a restructuring that began more than a year ago. Buterin confirmed on social media that the adjustments are in response to “technical and governance challenges,” including criticism over ETH sales to fund operations and tensions with centralized validators like Lido, which controls a large percentage of the ETH staked.
Miyaguchi, who has led the Foundation since 2018, will now oversee strategic alignment between technical teams and the EF Silviculture Society. His appointment prioritises expertise in institutional diplomacy as the Foundation reduces its direct influence. In 2024, it eliminated board representation for projects such as EigenLayer to avoid conflicts of interest.
Ethereum wants to connect more with the community
The recently announced search for a social media manager complements the Foundation's efforts to reach out to its user community. As reported by this media outlet, the vacancy requires experience in Web3 community management and skills to translate technical complexities into accessible language, a position that seeks to bridge the gap between developers and the community, prioritizing the communication and interaction needs of the community.
PREPARE YOUR WALLETNow, with the creation of the EF Silviculture Society, the Foundation seeks to strengthen its technical principles while adapting to a rapidly expanding ecosystem. By incorporating external voices and strengthening community communication, the organization aims to balance innovation with ethical responsibility, particularly on sensitive issues such as privacy and concentration of power.
These adjustments come at a defining moment for Ethereum. With layer-2 projects multiplying and regulators scrutinizing its model, the network must prove that its decentralized architecture can scale without betraying its founding ideals. Miyaguchi’s advisory society and leadership will be key to navigating this crossroads, where every technical decision has societal implications.
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