July 1, Cannes, France.

On the stage of the ongoing EthCC, Ethereum developer Zak Cole made a striking statement:

“ETH to $10k isn’t a meme, it’s a requirement！”

The translation is roughly that ETH rising to 10,000 USD is not a meme, but a requirement.

As soon as he finished speaking, he announced the establishment of the Ethereum Community Foundation (ECF), a community-based organization that vowed to push ETH to new highs.

The name of this soon-to-be-established organization easily reminds one of the Ethereum Foundation (EF), which is only a word apart but more official.

Then, Zak Cole in the speechindicate：

“We say what the Ethereum Foundation (hereinafter referred to as EF) is unwilling to say and do what they are unwilling to do. We provide services for ETH holders because you deserve better. Our North Star, our token Ticker, is ETH.”

Applause and skepticism erupted simultaneously on platform X, with some cheering for a community awakening, while others mockingly called it yet another speculative gimmick.

Ethereum, the king that has nurtured DeFi, NFTs, and Layer 2 innovations, is facing a price slump and the siege from competitors like Solana.

The Ethereum Foundation (EF), established 11 years ago, has been criticized for its high expenditures and alienation of the community, despite promoting the Ethereum The Merge and Dencun technological upgrades.

At this time, shouting out for the community and ETH holders, the slogan of ECF is indeed timely, but saying and doing are completely different concepts.

How to make ETH soar to 10,000 dollars, what is the specific plan? What differences does it bring compared to EF?

Transparency and Empowerment Banner

From the content of the on-site speech, the goals of ECF are clear and aggressive: to drive up ETH prices, accelerate institutional adoption, and empower the community.

In general, it will first increase ETH burns and reduce circulating supply by funding high-volume projects (such as the tokenization of real assets), pushing the ETH price towards $10,000.

Secondly, the ECF plan provides banks and enterprises with a simplified Ethereum integration solution, promoting Ethereum as a global settlement layer to attract traditional finance. Finally, it promises to give validators and the community more say in protocol development and funding allocation through the Ethereum Validator Association (EVA) and coin voting mechanism.

In terms of specific strategies, the execution of ECF revolves around those “immutable, tokenless” projects.

It will prioritize funding high ETH consumption applications such as on-chain financial derivatives and real estate tokenization, ensuring that the destruction mechanism of EIP-1559 works to its fullest effect.

To attract institutions, ECF plans to collaborate with regulatory agencies to develop compliant on-chain solutions, while investing in validator infrastructure, such as staking tools and node optimization, to enhance network security.

In addition, transparency is its core selling point: all funding decisions are made through community voting, and the flow of funds is 100% public, striving to differentiate itself from the “black box operations” of the Ethereum Foundation (EF).

If I am not capable, I will be replaced.

In “Romance of the Three Kingdoms”, Liu Bei entrusted his son at Baidi City, and on his deathbed, he said to Zhuge Liang: “If my son is capable, then assist him; if he is not talented, you may take matters into your own hands.”

It means that if my son is not successful, you can directly take his place.

Ethereum in 2025 stands at such a historical juncture.

The Ethereum Foundation (EF) seems just like the incapable Liu Shan; but will the Ethereum Community Foundation (ECF) be the loyal Zhuge Liang?

From the series of moves mentioned above, ECF clearly targeted the official Ethereum Foundation - Zak Cole’s speech also hit the EF’s pain points: sluggish prices, community alienation, and loss of competition.

The Ethereum Foundation (EF) used to be the beacon of Ethereum; however, this year we have seen more negative discussions about it. The EF is indeed mired in internal and external troubles, with high expenditures, centralized decision-making, and market failures leading to complaints from the community.

EF’s spending in 2023 reached 134.9 million USD, funding projects such as mainnet upgrades and zero-knowledge proofs, but it has faced criticism for a lack of transparency.

The community also questions the lack of funding allocation details and project progress in its Ecosystem Support Program, with decision-making power concentrated in the hands of a few management members, which contradicts the idea of decentralization.

In 2024, EF researchers Justin Drake and Dankrad Feist resigned due to controversies surrounding EigenLayer advisors, further exposing issues of conflict of interest, with voices calling for “EF out of control” rising on platform X.

Internal restructuring and layoffs further highlight management difficulties.

In 2024, Ethereum’s mainnet revenue significantly declined as Layer 2s (such as Arbitrum and Optimism) diverted trading volume, and the ETH burning effect of EIP-1559 weakened due to reduced mainnet activity.

The ETH price failed to outperform Solana during the bull market in 2024-2025, as the latter has advantages in trading speed and low fees, while Binance Smart Chain also diverted some DeFi traffic.

In terms of institutional adoption, EF’s neutral stance has resulted in slow progress for Ethereum’s expansion in traditional finance, far behind Solana’s collaborations with enterprises.

The disappointment of the community has also paved the way for the appearance of ECF today.

The serial entrepreneur Zak

“Man proposes, God disposes. Whether ECF can bring ETH to 10,000 USD ultimately depends on human efforts.”

However, the past of Zak Cole, this core developer, is like a double-edged sword, adding glory to his ambitions while casting a shadow over the credibility of the ECF.

He is a well-known serial entrepreneur in the industry and has served as a co-founder of multiple projects. However, the results of these serial entrepreneurial endeavors seem to contradict his current slogan of empowering the Ethereum community.

The community is often the injured taker.

According to the well-known whistleblower on platform X, Crypto Fearless, several major projects that Zak is involved in have not performed well in the market.

For example, BTC L2 Corn, which was launched not long ago, has already broken its value, and the airdrop strategy has also backfired on the community; while the ancient project ICON it participated in back in 2017 has seen its token nearly drop to zero.

(Image source: X user Crypto Fearless@cryptobraveHQ)

Of course, there are environmental issues related to the overall downturn in the crypto market, various narratives, and projects being debunked, but it’s hard to believe that a serial entrepreneur who keeps starting over would invest lasting effort in the Ethereum community.

The ambition of ECF’s “ETH to $10k” still raises a question mark at this time.

Its price-driving strategies, such as funding high-burn projects and institutional adoption plans (like collaborations with banks), may temporarily boost the value of ETH, but they also face speculative risks and centralization concerns.

After all, you never know if the next crypto project will be a rebranding of the last rug.

In the cryptocurrency world, we have seen too many ups and downs, and often transparent promises are just slogans, while the community is merely a pawn wrapped in the ambitions of price.

Will it be different this time?

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