Aya Miyaguchi took over as executive director of the Ethereum Foundation on February 1, 20181. The Foundation announced her appointment on January 31, 2018, in the same blog post that marked Ming Chan's exit from the role.
Two of the Ethereum Foundation's 12 leadership moves on the record came in 2018
Leadership moves CryptoLately has verified at the Ethereum Foundation, by year
- 2018: 2
- 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
Moves: The Moves Ledger, CryptoLately's record of verified leadership moves, Oct. 3, 2016 to Oct. 2, 2026.
Read the chart as a table
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| 2018 | 2 |
| 2019 | 0 |
| 2020 | 0 |
| 2021 | 0 |
| 2022 | 0 |
| 2023 | 0 |
| 2024 | 0 |
| 2025 | 4 |
Four CEO appointments on the record in 2018
CEO appointments CryptoLately has verified, by year
- 2018: 4
- 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
Moves: The Moves Ledger, CryptoLately's record of verified leadership moves, Oct. 3, 2016 to Oct. 2, 2026.
Read the chart as a table
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 2 |
| 2017 | 3 |
| 2018 | 4 |
| 2019 | 8 |
| 2020 | 7 |
| 2021 | 6 |
| 2022 | 18 |
| 2023 | 17 |
The appointment
Miyaguchi came from Kraken Japan, where she had served as managing director, the Foundation's announcement said1. The post called her "a veteran of the blockchain space" with "a passion for non-profits and social enterprise". ZyCrypto's report on the leadership change spelled her name "Ayako Miyaguchi." The outlet credited her with board seats at the Japan Fintech Association and advisory work at OmiseGO2.
She described her own priorities in a statement the Foundation published. “Having been involved in different layers of the blockchain ecosystem, I am aware of the the improvements that need to happen at the core level of the Ethereum platform, and that these improvements can only happen with the support of a strong community,” Miyaguchi said1. She posted a shorter version of the same message on social media on February 2, 2018. “I hope to support Ethereum – with all of you in the community – to maintain its genuine vision for the future of humanity (and beyond),” she wrote, as quoted by ZyCrypto2.
Who she replaced
Ming Chan had run the Foundation since August 1, 2015. She led it through the DAO hack and a wave of 2016 denial-of-service attacks1. The Foundation's own farewell post said so. Chan kept her exit reason private beyond a wish to handle "a number of long overdue matters of a personal nature," ZyCrypto reported2. The handoff between the two women happened inside a single blog post, with Chan's farewell and Miyaguchi's welcome published together.
What came next
Miyaguchi was still among the Ethereum Foundation's leaders in July 2026, eight years after the handoff. A CoinGape report from July 29, 2026, named Miyaguchi the Ethereum Foundation's president3. It placed her on a four-member board alongside co-founder Vitalik Buterin. The board had just added security researcher Pascal Caversaccio. CoinGape quoted Miyaguchi welcoming him publicly. She called him "a living example" of the Foundation's values, the outlet reported.
Sources
- Ethereum Team, "Farewell and Welcome," Ethereum Foundation Blog, Jan. 31, 2018, https://blog.ethereum.org/2018/01/31/farewell-and-welcome
- Jose Antonio, "Executive Director of the Ethereum Foundation Resigns," ZyCrypto, Feb. 2, 2018, https://zycrypto.com/executive-director-ethereum-foundation-resigns/
- Sneha Agrawal, "Ethereum Foundation Appoints Pascal Caversaccio to Board Alongside Vitalik Buterin, Aya Miyaguchi," CoinGape, July 29, 2026, https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMi1AFBVV95cUxObnBURUpBVTBVYm04WTlEaFByTTZiZUlyT3VSbU1FQzZuTjdYUHhLbmJFRUhzWmJ2LWd1WHhhdkdnbFVLcmk4aUpTbFE2RTRubTdIbzVaNmxHMVg0cEtuckNwM2hSTjNnTDc1X1dJR01FaDRBTlQ3ZHp4cFBGLVRLS2JVeVM2blZYOWdWbkFlM2t6LWdvdFJHOVozZzg5UEtnc3lJaEpwNERqVy1KWlk1a1lPbzFXT1llVzFmbl9VMFJ5Sm9WaWN6OHQzZEVRSTE3b25lcg