Author: Osato Avan-Nomayo, DLNews; Compiled by: Wu Baht, Golden Finance

Ethereum has lost its luster—at least for one of its top developers.

Ethereum’s star developer Nick Conner has bid farewell to the project amid dissatisfaction from several stakeholders.

“I am no longer a .eth person,” Conner wrote on X on Tuesday.

".eth" is ".com" for Ethereum supporters, a subtle nod that turns the holder's online username into a mark of loyalty to the blockchain project. It is derived from the suffix users get when they create an Ethereum service name for their wallet address.

This is the latest setback for Ethereum. Over the past year, it has failed to keep pace with rivals Solana, XRP and Bitcoin. Despite optimism that the launch of a spot Ethereum exchange-traded fund will replicate the success of the U.S. Bitcoin ETF, Ethereum’s price has lagged behind its rivals.

There are even rumors that XRP may eventually replace Ethereum as the second largest cryptocurrency.

Connor's self-exile from the ranks of the so-called "Ethereum big guys" is considered a clear signal that a greater crisis is brewing within the project community.

Bloomberg Intelligence senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said the news is a "bad sign" for Ethereum.

Connor co-authored EIP-1559, a groundbreaking change in the Ethereum code that transformed the network’s transaction fee market.

Conner explained the reasons for his decision, saying there was a misalignment between the project's leadership and the wishes of the wider community.

Many Ethereum stakeholders expressed similar sentiments and directed their dissatisfaction towards the Ethereum Foundation, the non-profit organization that oversees the development of the project.

The organization has been criticized for failing to support the second-largest cryptocurrency.

Critics ridiculed the foundation’s large budget and low network utilization. They lamented that these flaws caused Ethereum to lose out to its main competitors.

Aya Miyaguchi, the foundation’s executive director, even faced calls for her to resign as head of the foundation.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said that the leadership team of the Ethereum Foundation is changing.

Buterin, however, blamed prominent Ethereum supporters who made vicious remarks against Miyaguchi and other stakeholders.

"If you 'keep up the pressure,' you are creating an environment that is toxic to top talent," Buterin wrote on Twitter.

He warned the dissident crowd to moderate their rhetoric, otherwise he would have no interest in fulfilling their wishes.

To be sure, the future of Ethereum is not optimistic.

When its price topped $3,500 for the first time in months in November, analysts thought it could be the start of a bigger rally.

UK bank Standard Chartered predicts that Donald Trump’s election victory is one of the catalysts that could push ETH to $10,000 in 2025.

Other bullish signs include growing institutional interest in Ethereum and cryptocurrencies.