Recently, Ethereum core developer Zach Cole announced the creation of a new independent organization, the Ethereum Community Foundation (ECF). He presented it at a conference in Cannes with a specific and, frankly, ambitious goal: to bring the price of ether (ETH) to $ 10,000 and return the focus of the entire ecosystem to ETH itself as an asset, and not just as fuel for DeFi and dApps.
According to Cole, the current Ethereum Foundation is too passionate about infrastructure development, while pushing the economic value of ether itself into the background. ECF, on the contrary, wants to fix this by becoming the "voice of the people," which, according to Zack, "can say things that the Ethereum Foundation cannot and do things that it does not want."
What does ECF do differently?
The Cole Foundation will direct funds to projects that:
No new tokens are being issued — no additional inflating of the supply.
They work exclusively on the main Ethereum network to stimulate the burning of ETH through commissions.
They create public goods that are accessible to everyone, not just investors or venture funds.
They do not depend on venture capital to avoid conflicts of interest and maintain decentralization.
The first recipient of the grant was the EVA (Ethereum Validators Association) project, which plans to strengthen the influence of validators and support the development of technical proposals like EIP.
What is the ECF against?
Zach Cole criticizes the Ethereum Foundation for funding projects that eventually launch tokens with the participation of venture capital investors such as Uniswap, Optimism or ENS. In his opinion, if the fund's funds come from public sources, then the result should be public, and not move into the pockets of major players.
He also noted potential conflicts of interest, for example, in a situation where the developer of the Prysm client was partially bought by Offchain Labs, which, in his opinion, may violate the principles of network neutrality.
Why now?
All this is happening against the background of a noticeable increase in interest in ether from institutional investors. Within one week, $260 million went into the ETH-ETF, and analysts began to seriously talk about a potential increase to $10,000 by 2026 — or even earlier.
In addition, Ethereum's network metrics have started to grow rapidly: more active addresses, more transactions, and increased interest in new projects based on the ETH network. All these signals reinforce the technical picture: ETH has formed a support base from which steady growth can begin.
Still, is the goal of $10,000 realistic?
Some analysts believe that this level is achievable in the next couple of years, provided the bullish momentum continues and spot ETFs are approved. Others are more cautious, pointing to the dependence of the crypto market on global economic factors and potential regulatory risks.
But one thing is clear: Trying to rethink ETH as a monetary asset rather than just a token launch platform is an important step. And if ECF really finances useful, non-stalling projects, it can return interest in ether as an investment asset, and not just a technology platform.
What do you think — will the ECF people's approach be able to restore economic strength to Ethereum and bring it to $10,000?
