From the Ethereum Engine Room to Wall Street: Danny Ryan's New Mission

From the Ethereum Engine Room to Wall Street: Danny Ryan's New Mission

Ryan turned down the opportunity to lead the Ethereum Foundation and instead joined Etherealize, an organization that is taking Ethereum to Wall Street.

Margot Nijkerk | Edited by Sam Kessler Updated Mar 12, 2025 20:41 UTC Published Mar 12, 2025 15:43 UTC

What you need to know:

• Danny Ryan, formerly a key researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, left EF in September but began discussions a few months later about possibly returning as the new leader.
• In January, Ryan “ultimately parted ways by mutual consent” with the fund, and in March announced he was joining Etherealize, an organization seeking to bring Ethereum to Wall Street.
• Ryan says the move was made because he believes Ethereum is at a critical juncture in its technological development: “Ethereum is much bigger than EF. It’s not just a few changes to EF that will make or break Ethereum as a whole.”

As controversy erupted around the Ethereum Foundation (EF) this winter, one of Ethereum’s most respected architects was quietly planning his next move. Danny Ryan, the key visionary responsible for Ethereum’s most ambitious upgrade, “The Merge,” left the EF in September, but months later began talks to return to the organization as its new leader.

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“I had been talking to Vitalik [Buterin] and others about coming back to help run the Ethereum Foundation,” Ryan told CoinDesk in a candid interview. But when the nonprofit behind the world’s second-largest blockchain faced a drastic change in leadership, Ryan’s path took an unexpected turn — toward taking Ethereum to Wall Street.

The changes at the Ethereum Foundation come amid growing tensions in the community. Critics have accused the foundation of believing that Ethereum is losing momentum due to growing competition like Solana. The shakeup included the appointment of Aya Miyaguchi, the foundation’s executive director since 2018, as president.

Instead of Ryan taking over Miyaguchi's former position, day-to-day leadership of the fund was handed over to Xiao-Wei Wang, an EF researcher, and Tomasz Stanczak, the founder of Ethereum client software Nethermind.

The Ethereum Foundation, a Swiss non-profit organization, is the main player supporting the development of the Ethereum blockchain ecosystem. It manages a treasury of Ethereum tokens (ETH), which it distributes through grants to ecosystem projects. The foundation also employs a team of developers and researchers who play an important role in coordinating updates and shaping the chain’s roadmap.

In January, as EF’s leadership was changing, Ryan “ultimately parted ways” with Buterin and the fund, he said. “Shortly after that, I met with Vivek [Raman],” one of the founders of Etherealize, a new company aimed at bringing ether (ETH) products to Wall Street. In March, Ryan announced he was joining Etherealize as a co-founder.

Ryan believes he made the move because he believes Ethereum is at a critical juncture in its technological development: “Ethereum is much bigger than EF. It’s not just a few changes to EF that will make or break Ethereum as a whole.”

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