As controversy swirled around the Ethereum Foundation (EC) this winter, one of Ethereum’s most respected architects quietly planned his next move. Danny Ryan – an important visionary behind Ethereum’s most ambitious upgrade, “The Merge” – Left EC in September, but went into conversations a few months later to join the organization as its new leader.
“I was in conversation with Vitalik [Buterin] And others to potentially return to help operate the Ethereum Foundation, “Ryan revealed in a sincere interview with Coindesk. But when non-profit behind the second largest blockchain underwent a dramatic leadership, Ryan’s trajectory unexpectedly changed somewhere else to bring Ethereum to Wall Street.
The changes at the Ethereum Foundation came in the midst of growing turmoil in the community. Critics accused the basis of their perception that Ethereum lost speed to Ascendant rivals like Solana. The switching included moving Aya Miyaguchi, the Foundation’s CEO since 2018, to the president’s role.
Instead of Ryan who took Miyaguchi’s previous position, the foundation’s day-to-day management transferred to Hsiao-Wei Wang, an EC scientist and Tomasz Stańczak, the founder of Ethereum’s Netheremind Client Software.
The Ethereum Foundation, a Swiss non-profit, is the most important organization that supports the development of the Ethereum Blockchain ecosystem. It manages a Treasury of Ethereums ether (ETH) -tokens, as it distributes through grants to ecosystem projects. It also staffs a team of developers and researchers who play a key role in coordinating updates and shaping the chain’s timetable.
In January, when the EC management Shakeup was underway, Ryan ended up “mutually to separate ways” with the butterin and the foundation, he said. “Soon after I was introduced to Vivek [Raman]”One of the founders of Etherealize, a new company aimed at bringing Ether (ETH) products to Wall Street. In March, Ryan announced he would join Etherealize as co -founder.
Ryan says he made the move because he thinks Ethereum is at a technological bending point: “Ethereum is much larger than EC. It’s not just a few changes to the EC that will make or break Ethereum as a whole.”
According to Ryan, what the ecosystem needs now more than ever is to get its technology in the hands of real users. “The only reason why things may be more existential right now than in the past is that the world is actually ready to adopt these systems,” Ryan said. “It is existential that Ethereum – a truly open, decentralized, permissionless platform – is the one that has been adopted.”
From web3 to Wall Street
At Etherealize, Ryan aims to connect Ethereum’s technical ecosystem with institutional funding. The company is developing financial products that will make Ethereum more accessible to traditional investors, while maintaining blockchain’s core values of blockchain’s core values.
As a researcher at EF, Ryan played a central role in the mapping of Ethereum’s ambitious upgrade from Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake, known as the merger. He believes his close ties to one of the most influential organizations in the Ethereum space will benefit his new work on Etherealize.
“I’m coming on board, we’re going to make that bridge two -way. I have a deep Ethereum context – I helped build the protocol, ”Ryan said. “I know all the people who work on it. I know the challenges available and understand how things can unfold in the next few years. And then I can serve as a bridge from Ethereum back to the real world. “
As for Ryan’s role, his responsibilities specifically are not fully defined: “I would love to etherealize to take on the mandate by doing something open [research and development]And to be a player in LAG-1 or LAG-2 or the application layer F&U. But we are still kind of to find out the country’s layers there. “
Industry surveys note that Ryan’s features are coming in a central moment for both Ethereum and Institutional Crypto Adoption. With a new crypto legislative environment under US President Donald Trump, traditional financial companies are expected – especially in the United States to become more comfortable using blockchain technology. Ryan hopes his technical Bona Fides could help these integrations meet Wall Street’s strict standards without compromising Crypto’s core ideals.
“We plan to bring the whole world to Ethereum to whatever extent we can, and to have a deep technical background and understanding of Ethereum from a very basic way will help us do it,” Ryan said.
Looking ahead for the Ethereum Foundation
When asked about the time of his departure from the EC in the midst of growing criticism of the organization, Ryan offered a measured perspective. “Much of what we’ve seen is just market dynamics, regardless of basic value, painting people’s perspectives on things, and they sometimes look for someone to blame or put a finger on,” he explained, referring to ETH prize volatility that sometimes dyed the public atmosphere about the project.
Ryan remains optimistic in terms of the changes that come to the foundation that he once considered leading. “I’m excited about some new blood,” he said. “I have known Aya since January 2018; we have been working very closely together for years. I have publicly told me to admire her leadership and I think she has made a number of really important calls to how to drive EC.”
He added that he is “excited about the two leaders” who were raised to replace Miyaguchi. “They have a very technical background and a deep understanding of Ethereum, both the positive and the negative with regard to the construction of the protocol.”
Read more: Ethereum’s new cheerleader on Wall Street: A Q&A with Vivek Raman
