Ethereum’s Dankrad Feist joins EigenLayer, faces community backlash

Ethereum researcher Dankrad Feist has announced his decision to join the ranks of EigenLayer as an adviser. Following in the footsteps of fellow researcher Justin Drake, Feist said this move would not represent the Ethereum Foundation and would have “a focus on risks and decentralization.”

“Together with Justin Drake, I have recently decided to become an advisor to Eigenlayer, on the same conditions -- I am taking this position personally [...] I am therefore fully expected to take contrarian views on Eigenlayer.”

Feist’s announcement sparked a mixture of backlash and support from the community due to potential conflicts of interest and the fact that Feist will receive “a significant amount of tokens from this position.”

Feist explained that he does not believe the allocation of tokens will “change or influence” his position on how the core protocol should be developed. Instead, he believes the new role would be “a major benefit to Ethereum if it is done by someone with high integrity.”

Amid the community backlash, one community member showed appreciation for the disclosure, speculating that the “angst” Feist and Drake were receiving could be attributed to EigenLayer being “bad.” 

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Lefteris Karapetsas, founder of Rotkiapp, expressed his disappointment in “the EF researchers.” He made a blunt comment in an X post on May 21.

Karapetsas explained that he was “appalled” by the decision that Feist and Drake had made, adding that “even if [they] pink promise” to not let the compensation cloud their judgment, it is “impossible.”

On May 19, Drake posted about his decision to take on his paid EigenLayer adviser role, which would compensate him with “millions of dollars” worth of EIGEN tokens.

Drake acknowledged that taking the role would threaten his “personal reputation” and explained that he would “steer EigenLayer from within.”