Konstantin Lomashuk, the founder of the Lido Stake Protocol, has teased his intention to build a “Second Foundation” to further the Ethereum ecosystem.

Over the past few days, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has outlined plans for a major restructuring of the Ethereum Foundation (EF), the nonprofit organization responsible for supporting Ethereum’s development. In a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter), Buterin shared details of the reorganization, which he said would streamline decision-making processes and address inefficiencies.

The announcement has sparked criticism, with some arguing that Buterin’s central role in the restructuring process undermines Ethereum’s ethos of decentralization.

However, the Ethereum Foundation has long been scrutinized for its own centralizing influence within the Ethereum ecosystem. Over the past year, the organization has faced increasing pressure to define a clearer vision for Ethereum’s future as competing networks such as Solana make progress.

Read more: Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin goes on the attack amid major leadership shakeup

EF has also been criticized for its “rollup-centric” roadmap, which prioritizes “layer-2” networks that enable faster and cheaper transactions on top of Ethereum. While these layer-2 rollouts have increased Ethereum’s throughput, they have also raised concerns about potential trade-offs, such as diminished security guarantees and a notable dent in Ethereum’s base fee revenue.

Lomashuk, who has previously expressed concern about the Ethereum Foundation’s direction, hinted at the concept of a “Second Foundation” in a December post on X. “The idea of ​​a ‘Second Foundation’ is more about creating competition between different groups, giving communities a election,” Lomashuk wrote. “The EC is super deep, and it is almost impossible for outsiders to contribute without building long-term research muscles. Without competition, we risk losing the right path.”

On Wednesday, Lomashuk published another X post sharing a newly created account for the “Second Foundation.”

Representatives for Lomashuk did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but Martin Köppelmann, a prominent Ethereum developer close to Lomashuk, told CoinDesk that the “Second Foundation” proposal is authentic.

“He’s definitely giving it serious thought,” Köppelmann said. “The goal, of course, is to make it open to everyone who subscribes to the same ideas — roughly speaking, that Ethereum needs to scale better and faster.”

Lido, the protocol founded by Lomashuk, allows users to pool their ETH to participate in Ethereum’s staking mechanism, which lets users “stake” (unlock) crypto with the network in exchange for interest. Stake correlates with power in Ethereum’s governance system, making Lido a central entity in the ecosystem: Lido currently accounts for around 28% of Ethereum’s staked ETH, making it the network’s largest validator.

In addition to Lido, Lomashuk co-founded P2P Validator, a company that provides infrastructure for Ethereum validators, and cyber.Fund, a venture capital firm he runs with another Lido co-founder. His growing influence raises questions about the potential dynamic between a “Second Foundation” and the existing Ethereum Foundation as the network continues to evolve.