Ethereum Geth Conflict Heats Up Over $5M Spinout Offer

Key Points

• Ethereum Geth Conflict Heats Up Over $5M Spinout Offer
• Claims of secret funding for a parallel client at Nethermind
• EF leadership denies any plan to phase out Geth
• Community worries about decentralization and transparency

The Ethereum Foundation (EF) is facing growing internal tensions over the future of Geth (Go Ethereum) — the blockchain’s most-used execution client.

In a public spat that spilled onto social media this week, Geth team lead Péter Szilágyi accused EF leadership of trying to sideline Geth through repeated spinout offers and secret funding of a competing team.

This latest conflict has sparked serious concerns about the Foundation’s direction, transparency, and commitment to Ethereum’s decentralization — much like the recent regulatory uncertainty that caused Solana ETF approval rumors to push SOL price up 4.5%.

I DARE you and the entire #Ethereum foundation to say that you didn’t offer $5M for us to spin out. Or that EF didn’t ask at least 3 times if we wanted to make a company instead and go off, just me and Felix and @mhswende pushed back. I dare @hwwonx to deny our Feb talk. https://t.co/s4eiLnYboP

— Péter Szilágyi (@peter_szilagyi) June 11, 2025

Geth Spinout Push Raises New Fears in Ethereum Community

The trouble began when Szilágyi revealed that the Ethereum Foundation had offered $5 million to spin out Geth as an independent company.

According to him, this move suggests EF wants to offload core Ethereum infrastructure and shift its focus toward research and education.

More controversially, Szilágyi also claimed that EF secretly backed a parallel Geth team inside Nethermind, without informing existing Geth developers.

On X (formerly Twitter), he alleged that EF recently dismissed four other Ethereum development teams and plans to sunset Geth within a few years — a move that could destabilize Ethereum’s network, which relies heavily on Geth.

Removing Geth? We truly hope that never happens, for Ethereum’s sake.

If there’s a project worthy of funding, this is it. https://t.co/gCJpF89x6b

— Ethereum on ARM (and RISC-V) 🦇🔊🐼👉👈🐼 (@EthereumOnARM) June 9, 2025

Tomasz Stańczak, co-executive director of the Ethereum Foundation, responded by denying any plans to phase out Geth. However, Szilágyi countered with further posts, challenging EF leadership to openly acknowledge prior discussions about spinning out Geth and funding rival teams.

He specifically pointed to a February 2025 meeting where such offers were allegedly made.

Is Ethereum’s Core Identity at Risk?

Insiders suggest that the Ethereum Foundation is undergoing a strategic shift, moving away from hands-on software maintenance toward a more research-driven role.

Critics argue that this pivot risks weakening Ethereum’s software reliability, especially if existing client teams like Geth are marginalized or defunded.

Currently, Geth powers the majority of Ethereum nodes. Any perceived instability or leadership uncertainty around its development could pose serious risks to Ethereum’s decentralization.

The Ethereum community has long advocated for a multi-client ecosystem to avoid over-reliance on any single software. EF has supported other clients, such as Besu, Nethermind, and Erigon, through various grants.

However, Szilágyi’s claims of undisclosed internal forks and funding raise fresh questions about transparency and governance. Similar trust issues have recently surfaced in other parts of the crypto space — for instance, retail traders have faced growing concerns about AI-driven tools like Pump.fun AI trading bots impacting fair markets.

Meanwhile, the broader financial landscape remains tense, as macro shifts like Trump possibly replacing Powell as Fed Chair could ripple into crypto valuations and investment flows.

For now, the Ethereum Foundation has not issued a formal statement about the $5 million spinout offers or the alleged Nethermind fork.

This dispute comes at a delicate time when many in the community are still recovering from personal and institutional setbacks — like James Wynn’s recent crypto loss, which you can read about here.

The crypto world will be watching closely. The resolution of this dispute could define how Ethereum balances innovation, decentralization, and long-term client support in the years ahead.