Ethereum Foundation's New Advisory Group Sparks Criticism from Uniswap Founder

Uniswap founder Hayden Adams has criticized the Ethereum Foundation's (EF) newly established advisory group, the "Silviculture Society," amid community concerns. Adams took to Twitter on Feb. 28 to express his disapproval, stating that the initiative was not what the community had been expecting and urging the Foundation to improve its communication by adopting a clearer and more direct approach.

Adams clarified that he was not criticizing the 15 individuals chosen for the advisory group but rather the idea and message behind the initiative, which he believed did not address the community's recent concerns. The Ethereum community has been voicing concerns over the perceived disconnect between the Foundation's current initiatives and the practical, transparent communication they expect, as well as unease about ongoing structural changes and treasury management practices that may impact ETH's market performance.

The EF stated that the Silviculture Society comprises external names picked to provide "informal counsel" to help maintain the Foundation's core values of open source, privacy, security, and censorship resistance. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin responded to Adams' post, explaining that the Silviculture Society is an experimental effort to create more channels for builders and other community voices to influence the EF, with a focus on core cypherpunk and regenerative values. Buterin also mentioned that the group has already provided advice on critical topics such as wallet security and that more initiatives and structures will be formed to capture community feedback.

Following Buterin's explanation, Adams acknowledged the initiative as "reasonable" but reiterated the need for the EF to communicate in a more direct and clear format, like Buterin's response. The creation of the Silviculture Society comes amid a broader movement to restructure the Ethereum Foundation, which has led to concerns among the community regarding its stability and long-term vision. On Feb. 25, Aya Miyaguchi stepped down from her role as EF executive director and moved to a new position as the Foundation's president, with no replacement named yet. Miyaguchi and Buterin have mentioned creating a new "leadership structure" for EF but have not shared further details about the plan.

The community has scrutinized the EF over the past few months due to ETH's underperformance in 2024 compared to other major cryptocurrencies. The frequent selling of ETH has raised questions about the effectiveness of the EF's treasury management, as the public realization of these assets