A long-simmering tension within the Ethereum ecosystem erupted into public view when Péter Szilágyi, the former lead developer of Go-Ethereum (Geth) — Ethereum’s primary execution client — resurfaced a private letter he sent to Ethereum Foundation (EF) leadership in May 2024.
In it, Szilágyi detailed his frustrations with the Foundation’s compensation practices, centralization dynamics, and overall treatment of key contributors. This revelation quickly snowballed, drawing sharp criticism from Polygon CEO Sandeep Nailwal and others, who accused the EF of undervaluing builders while preaching decentralization.
The Resurfaced Letter: Szilágyi’s $625K Revelation Szilágyi’s letter, now publicly shared on GitHub, paints a picture of disillusionment from one of Ethereum’s longest-serving developers. Over his six-year tenure as Geth lead roughly 2018-2024, Szilágyi earned a total of approximately $625,000 before taxes — no raises, benefits, or incentives included.
This averages out to about $104,000 per year, which he described as 50-60% below market rates for similar roles in the private sector. “The Foundation took away life-changing money from every single one of their employees over the past decade… Nobody’s arguing against the upside of being a successful founder, but the Foundation — led by Vitalik — went above and beyond to avoid paying their people fairly.”
He alleged that Ethereum’s decisions are controlled by a tight “inner circle” of 5-10 people, with co-founder Vitalik Buterin exerting “complete indirect control.” This setup, he argued, creates “perverse incentives” and risks “protocol capture” by underpaying passionate contributors who are then forced to seek funding elsewhere.
Szilágyi called himself a “useful fool” in a “lose-lose situation,” either staying silent as Geth’s reputation suffers or speaking out and damaging his own standing. He noted Geth as the “oldest team in the ecosystem apart from Buterin himself,” yet feeling unappreciated.
Szilágyi was reportedly fired from the EF in June 2025, which he linked to these tensions. The letter’s resurfacing has sparked widespread debate on X, with users calling the pay “insanely low” for maintaining the backbone of a $480 billion network.
“If someone’s not complaining that they are paid too little, then they are paid too much.” Polygon CEO’s Call-Out: “Questioning My Loyalty” The letter hit a nerve with Sandeep Nailwal, co-founder and CEO of Polygon Foundation, who responded on X with a lengthy thread expressing his own frustrations.
Nailwal revealed that Polygon — often positioned as an Ethereum Layer-2 scaler — has received “zero direct support” from the EF or Ethereum’s core tech (CT) community, and in fact faced opposition. Despite this, he maintained a “moral loyalty” to Ethereum, even at the cost of “billions of dollars in Polygon’s valuation.”
Polygon PoS is “effectively hinged” on Ethereum and acts as a major fee-paying “customer,” yet it’s not embraced as a true L2. He contrasted this with how successes like Polymarket are hailed as “Ethereum wins,” while Polygon is sidelined.
By aligning with Ethereum instead of declaring independence as a Layer-1, Polygon sacrificed 2-5x higher potential valuation compared to Hedera Hashgraph. Major contributors are forced to question or even regret their allegiance. Nailwal tagged this as “mind-boggling” and called for the EF to “embrace” rather than “shun” allies.
Polygon Labs CEO Marc Boiron echoed this, stating Polygon is a “customer of Ethereum” that deserves better treatment. The outburst has fueled speculation about Polygon pivoting toward rivals like Solana, with Solana co-founder Raj Gokal and former strategy head Austin Federa suggesting collaboration.
DeFi Voices and Vitalik’s Response
The drama has amplified calls for EF reform: Andre Cronje: Blasted the EF for providing “zero support or funding” to core devs while sitting on a massive treasury recently used to sell $43M in ETH. Cronje slammed the Foundation for failing to scale Ethereum despite contributions from projects like his.
Ethereum’s price dipped to around $3,871 on October 21, with $284M in ETF outflows amid the noise. Broader concerns include talent drain to higher-paying chains and risks to Ethereum’s decentralization narrative.
Vitalik Buterin responded measuredly on X, praising Polygon’s innovations (e.g., zero-knowledge EVM investments and AggLayer) and Nailwal’s philanthropy, without directly addressing pay or control issues. He positioned it as a call for unity: “Ethereum may be decentralized, but Vitalik absolutely has complete indirect control over it” quoting Szilágyi, but framing positively.
This isn’t isolated — earlier 2025 saw similar whispers about EF underpay (e.g., core devs at ~$150K/year vs. $360K market offers). Critics argue the non-profit model relies too heavily on “value alignment” idealism, breeding resentment.
If unaddressed, this could accelerate shifts to Solana, new L1s, or even Polygon independence. For now, it’s a stark reminder: Decentralization starts with fair incentives. Ethereum’s insiders are speaking — will the Foundation listen?
