Ethereum $ETH

just pulled off its biggest upgrade in over a year, and while that's a major technical milestone, it comes after a rough patch for the world’s leading smart contract platform. Ether (ETH) has been underperforming, some developers have jumped ship to competing chains, and the Ethereum Foundation itself has taken heat for lacking clear leadership and direction.

At CoinDesk’s Consensus conference in Toronto, though, there was a more optimistic tone. I caught a panel featuring Paul Brody (EY’s global blockchain lead and chair of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance) and Josh Stark from the Ethereum Foundation. Both made a strong case for why Ethereum’s still the most forward-thinking ecosystem in crypto.

According to Stark, the community is really asking for two things right now:

1. Stronger leadership to clarify the roadmap, stick to it, and coordinate the community around the hard problems.

2. Better storytelling — Ethereum’s fundamentals are solid, but few people are telling that story well.

Despite the recent criticism, both Brody and Stark defended Ethereum’s direction. Brody especially pushed back on concerns about the Foundation, giving high praise to former executive director Aya Miyaguchi, who led from 2018 until earlier this year. “If I step back and look at her tenure objectively in terms of results, I’d say A plus,” he said.

He pointed out that Ethereum is now a proof-of-stake chain supporting more than 120 layer-2s, with a daily capacity of 300–450 million transactions. And L2 fees? “Under a penny per transaction for the last three months,” Brody said. Not bad.

Miyaguchi stepped into a new role as Foundation president in March 2025. In her place, the Foundation brought in two co-executive directors — Hsiao-Wei Wang and Tomasz Stańczak — to tighten up strategy and leadership.

There’s been debate about whether Ethereum’s roadmap is too reliant on layer-2s (L2s) like Arbitrum, Optimism, and Base. Critics worry they introduce security risks and fragment the ecosystem. But Brody’s take? “I’m delighted.” He sees it as the best way to scale without compromising Ethereum’s core.

Stark echoed that, saying every major blockchain will eventually adopt some form of L2/modular structure. Ethereum just got there first — and now it’s dealing with the real-world challenges of that choice.

Still, not everything is rosy. ETH has lagged behind Bitcoin lately, and Stark admitted that Ethereum has a “more complicated narrative.” Bitcoin’s simplicity — being “digital gold” — helps it stay resilient. Ethereum, by contrast, offers a more complex but powerful proposition that Stark believes the market will eventually recognize.

“The world’s not going to stop learning about this tech,” he said. “Ethereum has always been the most important project in crypto. That hasn’t changed.”

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