Ethereum Core Developer Eric Conner Departs for AI Venture Freysa

Eric Conner, a prominent core developer at Ethereum, has left the ecosystem community after a nearly 11-year affiliation citing network co-founder Vitalik Buterin’s dismissal of a leadership shake-up proposal.

Conner is a co-author of EIP-1559, the major network change that shifted how transaction fees worked on Ethereum. He isn’t officially employed by Ethereum but has advised, invested, and was among those who led the charge on ecosystem growth since its early days.

Conner is joining AI-focused protocol Fresya.AI, he said in a follow-up X post.

Buterin swatted calls for changing the leadership structure at the Ethereum Foundation, which oversees the development of the second-largest blockchain by market cap.

Buterin said on X that he wants to create a “board” to manage the foundation, but until then he is the leader. Buterin’s comment came amid calls by ecosystem stakeholders for a change in the network’s leadership with founding member Anthony Donofrio opining that the blockchain has lost its way.

The network is also planning to roll-out its Pectra upgrade, which promises speed efficiency and other improvement, in March.