Why Base Developers Aren’t Feeling Ethereum’s Growing Pains

Key Takeaways

• Xen Baynham-Herd, Head of Global Builders at Base, stated that he has seen no signs of frustration among developers building on Coinbase’s layer-2 network.
• Ethereum core developer Péter Szilágyi accused the Ethereum Foundation of being controlled by a “ruling elite.”
• Baynham-Herd attributed Base’s positive developer culture to its commercial framework under Coinbase.

The Head of Global Builders at Base, Xen Baynham-Herd, has said he has seen no signs of unrest among developers building on Base, distancing Coinbase’s layer-2 network from the internal tensions currently surfacing within the Ethereum Foundation.

In recent weeks, long-time Ethereum core developer Péter Szilágyi publicly criticized the Foundation’s leadership structure in a mid-2024 memo circulated to its senior team.

Ethereum Veteran Slams Network Leadership

In the document, Szilágyi accused the Foundation of being controlled by “a ruling elite who will never relinquish control,” adding that Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin maintains “complete indirect control” over the network’s direction.

“Ethereum may be decentralized, but Vitalik absolutely has complete indirect control over it,” Szilágyi wrote.

He added that Buterin’s “attention, direction of research, brainpower, donations, and investments absolutely define which projects succeed,” arguing that “the key to gray-area behavior is to convince Vitalik it’s ok-ish.”

Szilágyi, who joined the Foundation in 2015 and leads Geth (Go Ethereum), the most widely used Ethereum node client, said projects seeking Foundation support only need to “get the correct 5–10 people around Vitalik” on board.

“I Don’t See That at Base Actually”

Asked whether he saw similar frustrations among teams building on Base, Baynham-Herd said he had not observed the same issues.

“I don’t see that at Base actually,” he told CCN at ZebuLive in London on Tuesday.

“The top projects on Base I think pay competitively,” he added. “At least I’ve not heard any problems from developers building on Base projects.”

The head of builders reiterated that while Ethereum’s core contributors operate within a non-profit structure overseen by the Foundation, Base’s ecosystem, incubated by Coinbase, follows a more commercial model.

This means they offer direct revenue and growth opportunities for developers.

That distinction, Baynham-Herd suggested, may explain why Base’s developer culture has avoided similar tensions.