Was the Establishment of the Ethereum Community Fund (ECF) a Speculative Gimmick or a Sign of Community Awakening?

Original Article Title: "From Ethereum Foundation to Community Foundation, Is the Community the End Goal or a Means to an End?"

Original Source: DeepTech TechFlow

On July 1st, in Cannes, France. At the ongoing EthCC stage, Ethereum developer Zak Cole made a rather impactful declaration: "ETH to $10k isn't a meme, it's a requirement!" Translated roughly, it means that ETH reaching $10,000 is not a meme but a requirement.

Just as the words fell, he announced the establishment of the Ethereum Community Foundation (ECF), a self-proclaimed Ethereum community foundation focused on the community and committed to propelling ETH to new heights. The name of this upcoming organization easily brings to mind the Ethereum Foundation (EF), which differs by only a single word but is more official.

Subsequently, Zak Cole stated in his speech: "We say things the Ethereum Foundation (referred to as EF) is unwilling to say and do things they are unwilling to do. We serve ETH holders because you deserve better. Our guiding star, our token Ticker, is ETH."

Applause and skepticism erupted simultaneously on X platform, with some cheering this as a community awakening, while others cynically dismissed it as another speculative ploy. Ethereum, the king nurturing DeFi, NFT, and Layer 2 innovations, is facing a price downturn and pressure from competitors like Solana.

Despite being established for 11 years, the Ethereum Foundation (EF), while driving the Ethereum The Merge and DenCun technical upgrades, has been widely criticized for high expenditure and community alienation. At this juncture, loudly proclaiming to serve the community and ETH holders, ECF's slogan is timely, but actions speak louder than words. What are its specific plans to drive ETH to $10,000? How does it differ from the EF?

Transparency and Empowerment Flag

From the content of the on-site speech, ECF's goals are clear and radical: boosting the ETH price, accelerating institutional adoption, empowering the community. In broad strokes, it will first increase ETH burn by funding high-throughput projects (such as tokenizing real-world assets) to reduce circulating supply and drive the ETH price towards $10,000.

Secondly, the ECF plans to provide banks and enterprises with a simple Ethereum integration solution, promote Ethereum as a global settlement layer, and attract traditional finance players. Finally, it commits to giving validators and the community more say in protocol development and funding allocation through the Ethereum Validator Association (EVA) and a coin voting mechanism.

Specifically, the ECF's execution focuses on projects that are "immutable and non-tokenized." It will prioritize funding for high ETH-consuming applications such as on-chain financial derivatives, real estate tokenization, ensuring the optimal operation of the EIP-1559 burn mechanism. To attract institutions, the ECF plans to collaborate with regulatory bodies to develop compliant on-chain solutions, while investing in validator infrastructure such as staking tools and node optimization to enhance network security.

Furthermore, transparency is its key selling point: all funding decisions are made through community voting, fund flows are 100% public, aiming to distinguish itself from the Ethereum Foundation's (EF) "black box operations."

Replacing the Incompetent

In the Chinese historical novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," as Liu Bei entrusted his son to Zhuge Liang in Baidicheng before his death, he said: "If my son is capable, support him; if he is incompetent, you may replace him." The implication is that if my son is incapable, you can directly take his place. The Ethereum of 2025 also stands at such a historical juncture. The Ethereum Foundation (EF) seems to be like the incapable Liu Shan; only the Ethereum Community Foundation (ECF) would be the loyal Zhuge Liang?

From the above combination punch, it's clear that the ECF is directly targeting the official Ethereum Foundation — Zak Cole's speech also hit on the EF's pain points: low prices, community alienation, and competitive setbacks. The Ethereum Foundation (EF) used to be Ethereum's lighthouse, but this year we have seen more negative discussions about it. The EF is indeed mired in internal and external troubles, with high expenditures, centralized decision-making, and market defeats sparking community discontent. In 2023, the EF's spending reached as high as $134.9 million, funding projects like mainnet upgrades, zero-knowledge proofs, but facing criticism due to insufficient transparency.

The community also questions the lack of funding allocation details and project progress in its Ecosystem Support Program, with decision-making power concentrated in a few management layers, contradicting the decentralized ideology. In 2024, EF researchers Justin Drake and Dankrad Feist resigned due to controversies surrounding the EigenLayer advisory, further exposing issues of conflicts of interest. The calls for "EF out of control" on various platforms continued.

Internal restructuring and layoffs further highlight management difficulties. In 2024, Ethereum's mainnet revenue saw a significant decline, with Layer 2 solutions (such as Arbitrum, Optimism) diverting transaction volume, and the ETH burn effect of EIP-1559 weakened due to reduced mainnet activity. ETH's price failed to outperform Solana during the 2024-2025 bull market, as Solana took the lead in transaction speed and low fees, while Binance Smart Chain also siphoned off some DeFi traffic.

On the institutional adoption front, the Ethereum Foundation's neutral stance has slowed Ethereum's expansion into traditional finance, lagging far behind Solana's and enterprise partnerships. Community disappointment has also paved the way for ECF's emergence today.

Zak's Serial Entrepreneurship

While plans are made by humans, outcomes are decided by the heavens. Whether ECF can take ETH to $10,000 ultimately depends on individuals. However, Zak Cole, a core developer, carries a double-edged sword of a past that both enhances his ambition and casts a shadow over ECF's credibility. He is a well-known figure in the industry for his serial entrepreneurship, having served as a co-founder in multiple projects. However, the outcomes of these ventures seem to contradict the current mission of empowering the Ethereum community.

The community often ends up as the wounded buyer. According to well-known industry whistleblower CryptoBrave, Zak's involvement in several significant projects has not yielded favorable market performances. For example, BTC L2 Corn experienced an immediate price drop shortly after launch, and the airdrop strategy backfired on the community. Additionally, ICON, a project he participated in back in 2017, saw its token almost go to zero.

(Image Source: Twitter User CryptoBrave @cryptobraveHQ)

Of course, broader market downturns and various narratives and projects being debunked contribute to these outcomes, but it's also difficult to believe that a serial entrepreneur who repeatedly starts anew would inject long-lasting dedication into the Ethereum community. ECF's "ETH to $10k" ambition currently faces uncertainty. Its price-driving strategies, such as funding high-burn projects and institutional adoption plans (like collaborations with banks), may temporarily boost ETH's value but also carry speculative risks and centralization concerns.

After all, you never know if the next crypto project will turn out to be another rug pull. The crypto space has seen too many ups and downs, where transparent promises often remain mere slogans, and the community is merely a pawn influenced by price ambitions.

Will it be different this time?