Péter Szilágyi, ex-leader of Geth, reveals turning down a $5 million offer to privatize Ethereum’s main client, denouncing a marginalization attempt orchestrated by the Ethereum Foundation.
He accuses the Foundation of secretly funding a competing version of Geth at Nethermind, without informing the original developers, and creating a toxic atmosphere with wage pressures and layoffs.
This conflict exposes an ideological rift within Ethereum: the current governance is drifting away from its founding values of transparency and decentralization towards a more political approach.
5 million dollars refused. And an internal war exposed.
Péter Szilágyi, a key figure in the Ethereum ecosystem, reportedly rejected a $5 million offer to transform Geth, the network’s main client, into a private company. However, this is just the tip of the iceberg. In a series of scathing posts on X, the developer directly accuses the Ethereum Foundation (EF) of trying to undermine Geth from within… while secretly funding a competing version.
Geth, network pillar… and internal target?
Geth, or Go Ethereum, currently powers nearly 63% of the network’s active nodes. A vital link. Péter Szilágyi was its technical leader for years, before announcing a ‘sabbatical’ last November. This sabbatical, he now explains, was actually triggered after his discovery of a ‘second secret Geth’ funded by the EF and developed at Nethermind, Geth’s direct competitor.
Ils ne nous ont rien dit. Ni à moi, ni à Felix, ni à Martin. Je l’ai découvert par hasard, et 24h plus tard, j’étais viré.
In his tweets, Szilágyi accuses EF leaders of repeatedly asking Geth developers to create an independent company, in exchange for millions. The goal, according to him, is to get rid of Geth to transform the Ethereum Foundation into a mere research and training organization, disconnected from the network’s operational responsibilities.
Divided salaries, pressure, layoffs: toxic atmosphere at the Foundation
The accusations don’t stop there. Szilágyi claims that Tomasz Stańczak, the new co-director of EF and creator of Nethermind, asked the remaining Geth team members if they would accept to work for half the salary. Subsequently, four developer teams were laid off, and tensions escalated.
Qu’on arrête de mentir. Assumez vos décisions. Vous m’avez viré, puis supplié de revenir. Je vous ai demandé des excuses. Vous avez dit non. Alors, c’est non.
These revelations follow a series of major changes within the Foundation: workforce reductions, strategic changes in managing remaining ETH funds, and leadership restructuring.
A deep rupture with Ethereum’s historical vision
Beneath this internal clash lies a broader fracture. Between the early protocol builders and a governance seeking reinvention. Ethereum, once proud of its decentralization and transparency, now faces accusations from one of its pillars for acting in the shadows, disregarding the community.
What if Ethereum’s core is no longer its code, but its politics?
