Ethereum Community Foundation: Challenging the Status Quo, Pursuing Value

At the Ethereum community conference held in Cannes, France, a remarkable event quietly took place. Ethereum core developer Zak Cole announced the establishment of the "Ethereum Community Foundation" (ECF), and the emergence of this new organization is undoubtedly a challenge to the existing order of Ethereum. The mission of ECF is clear: to support institutional-level adoption of infrastructure and ultimately drive up the price of ETH.

This move marks a public challenge to the "subtraction philosophy" that the Ethereum Foundation (EF) has long adhered to. As the spiritual leader of the ecosystem, the EF has always pursued "doing the best for the long-term success of Ethereum" and has consciously weakened its own influence. The emergence of the ECF represents a completely new "addition" mindset. Cole's declaration is significant: "We had hoped that the EF could self-correct, but they did not. So we stepped up."

The slogan shouted by ECF, "Every dollar will drive up the value of ETH," precisely captures the psychology of ETH holders, condensing a complex strategy into a simple yet powerful commitment. So, what is the background of this ECF that dares to challenge the status quo in the heart of Ethereum?

Zak Cole: The Key Figure Behind ECF

To understand ECF's position and strategy, we need to first understand its core figure, Zak Cole. He is not a traditional developer or community leader, but rather a "war engineer" with practical combat experience.

Cole's career began in the United States Marine Corps, where he was responsible for building and protecting critical network infrastructure during the Iraq War. This experience gave him a profound understanding of the importance of reliability and security of systems under extreme pressure. After retiring, he quickly immersed himself in the world of cryptocurrency, founding a company focused on blockchain performance testing and participating in the creation of a smart contract security competition platform. Through auditing numerous projects, he witnessed firsthand the serious consequences of poorly designed token economics and centralized vulnerabilities.

These experiences shaped Cole's leadership style: combining idealism with pragmatism. The three core principles of "immutability, no tokens, and promotion of destruction" upheld by ECF are the crystallization of his career experiences. This is not a theory conjured from thin air, but a survival rule distilled from countless system failures and security vulnerabilities.

The establishment of ECF also reflects Cole's insight into the industry's talent crisis. He has publicly stated that finding truly talented developers is very difficult. ECF provides a new path: focusing on building a tokenless infrastructure that strengthens the core values of Ethereum and directly obtaining ETH funding. This strategy is expected to attract top talent who truly resonate with the Ethereum protocol.

The Three Pillars of ECF

The three pillars of ECF—"Promotion of Destruction", "No Tokens", and "Immutability"—form its core philosophy. This set of principles aims to reverse the trend of value being continuously diluted and differentiated in the crypto ecosystem, refocusing economic energy on the core asset, Ether.

1. The "Promotion of Destruction" principle requires that all funded projects must promote the destruction of Ether, directly linking network usage to the value of Ether.

2. The "no-token" principle directly challenges the "fat application" narrative, ensuring that all the economic value created by the project is returned to ETH holders through a destruction mechanism.

3. The "immutability" principle emphasizes that smart contracts should eliminate the ability for a small number of people to upgrade or modify them as much as possible, in pursuit of predictable and reliable technical rules.

These three principles form a closed loop: by funding "immutable" "no-token" projects, high-quality on-chain economic activities are encouraged; the large number of transactions generated by these activities will drive the destruction of ETH, thereby enhancing ETH's scarcity and value.

The Primary Action of ECF

At its inception, ECF demonstrated two significant initiatives: the establishment of the Ethereum Validator Association (EVA) and a focus on Real World Assets (RWA).

The establishment of EVA aims to organize decentralized independent validators to form a political group that can counter the influence of large protocols. This is not only technical support but also a political mobilization, with the goal of transforming the guardians of network security into a powerful force supporting ETH monetary policy.

The focus on RWA reflects the economic expansion strategy of ECF. The tokenization of RWA is considered the next major opportunity in the crypto industry. ECF's RWA strategy perfectly aligns with its three core principles, aiming to convert the immense economic energy of the traditional financial world into a continuous burn of ETH.

The Fundamental Differences Between ECF and EF

The rise of ECF reflects the differences with the Ethereum Foundation (EF) in multiple aspects. This not only highlights the differences between the two organizations but also represents two potential paths for the future development of Ethereum.

EF regards Ethereum as an "infinite garden" that needs careful cultivation, pursuing ecological prosperity and technological advancement. In contrast, ECF views Ethereum as an economy striving for survival in intense market competition, directly using the rise in ETH price as the standard for success.

In governance and funding operations, EF is more like a traditional non-profit foundation, while ECF attempts to introduce a more direct capitalist accountability. EF is the guardian of "trusted neutrality," focusing on funding "public goods." ECF, on the other hand, advocates for "ETH-centered capitalism," believing that the most fundamental "public good" is a strong and valuable Ether.

This new and old struggle will determine the future direction of Ethereum. The battle for the soul of Ethereum has expanded from the technical realm to the public political and economic arena. As a challenger in this new era, the influence of ECF is worth ongoing attention.