Justin Drake resigns from EigenLayer advisorship amid controversy

Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake announced his resignation from the Eigen Foundation, which oversees the Eigenlayer (CRYPTO:EIGEN) restaking protocol, following a controversy that began in May 2024. 

In a social media post on November 2, Drake revealed that he stepped down from his advisory role in September 2024 and also left the Ultra Sound team.

In his public apology to the Ethereum (CRYPTO:ETH) community, he stated, "Going forward, I will turn down all advisorships, angel investments, and security councils. This personal policy goes above and beyond the recent Ethereum Foundation-wide conflict of interest policy, not because that was asked of me, but because I want to signal a commitment to neutrality."

Drake expressed a desire to focus on developing Ethereum's layer-1 network, particularly its consensus layer.

The controversy surrounding Drake began when he accepted a paid advisory position at the Eigen Foundation in May 2024. 

He claimed to have received millions of dollars worth of EIGEN tokens for his advisory role, stating that their value surpassed that of all his other assets combined.

Drake clarified that his responsibilities would be limited to researching technical and structural risks associated with restaking and emphasised he would not engage in marketing EigenLayer.

Following Drake's announcement, another prominent Ethereum researcher, Dankrad Feist, also began advising EigenLayer, which led to further criticism and accusations of conflict of interest.

These developments prompted the Ethereum Foundation to draft a conflict-of-interest policy aimed at preventing similar controversies in the future.

In his resignation statement, Drake acknowledged the uproar caused by his involvement with EigenLayer and admitted it was a "bad move" on his part. 

He emphasised the importance of maintaining public trust and legitimacy while contributing to advancements in Ethereum.

Drake has also handed over operations of the Ultra Sound team to three key contributors and expressed optimism for Ethereum's future.

He stated, "I am optimistic that 2025 will be a great year for Ethereum and an energizing year for L1 R&D."

At the time of reporting, the Eigenlayer (EIGEN) price was $2.37.