Ethereum Mist wallet update sparks controversy, Ethereum Foundation is questioned for abandoning neutrality and favoring Coinbase

Mist, one of Ethereum’s most famous wallets, recently released a version update, but it attracted a lot of attention because the update was understood to give preferential treatment to startups in a certain industry.

The most notable feature of the Mist wallet update is the integration of a widget created by Coinbase that allows users to buy up to $5 of ETH. Since the feature allows instant purchases of ETH through the wallet, many in the community see the update as a way to attract new Ethereum users.

But because the Mist wallet is sponsored by the nonprofit Ethereum Foundation, the update has raised concerns that senior ethereum members are giving Coinbase an unfair advantage.

The key point of this debate can be seen in the tweets of Anthony Di Iorio, the Ethereum co-founder, who believes that the Ethereum Foundation is ‘picking winners’. Social media also carried these discussions, and Di Iorio expanded on the incident. At one point, Di Iorio has created his own Ethereum wallet, Jaxx.

He wrote:

“The Ethereum Foundation should continue to remain neutral and focus on Ethereum education, protocol, security, performance, and other things like network scalability.”

The Mist wallet, which is currently in beta, is designed to serve as a smart contract wallet with browser-like functionality, allowing users to manage custom tokens.

Discussion escalation

Other ethereum users did not see the integration as a favoritism to Coinbase, but rather as a move to boost the ethereum project by providing an easier way to buy ETH, and thus the platform’s decentralized applications.

Reddit user cryptopascal believes that it is ‘unfair’ to call this integration ‘partiality’ as only Coinbase offers users the ability to exchange ETH using traditional currencies.

Di Iorio’s comments also fuel another discussion: how to best add features to wallets without favoring one company over another.

Another user added:

“I’m not against the Ethereum Foundation working with other commercial entities, but if they are going to do so, they should remain neutral and provide the same opportunities and visibility to everyone.”