Ethereum Foundation announced that it parted ways with 54 employees on June 22, 2026. This number corresponds to approximately 20% of the institution’s total workforce. The foundation defined this step as the final phase of the restructuring process, which started in June 2025.
The restructuring was divided into five main areas
Ethereum Foundation, one of the main organizations supporting the development of the Ethereum network, has gathered its structure in five main areas within the scope of its new operation plan. These are listed as protocol, access, user, community and enterprise layer. It was stated that management and general operations will be carried out by separate teams.
According to the foundation, the protocol layer will focus on making the Ethereum network more resistant to censorship and external manipulation. This team will also be responsible for the secure deployment of network updates and long-term research such as post-quantum security and Layer 1 privacy.
Mini dictionary: Post-quantum security refers to the protection approach developed against the possibility that future quantum computers may weaken existing encryption methods. Layer 1 privacy describes providing privacy features directly at the main blockchain level without leaving them to an additional application layer.
The purpose of the access layer was explained as making it easier for users to read blockchain data and send transactions without the need for intermediary structures. The enterprise layer will support companies, public institutions and non-profit structures to more easily adopt Ethereum’s cryptographic tools.
The Ethereum Foundation presented the staff reduction as the final step in a restructuring that began with new targets and tighter treasury policy adopted in June 2025.
High-level differences drew attention
The restructuring comes on the heels of high-level departures within the institution. The latest separation occurred on June 22, when co-executive director Hsiao Wei Wang, who served on the research team for eight years, resigned from his position. Before Wang, the other co-director, Tomasz Stanczak, also left the position in February. Thus, board member Bastian Aue became the sole executive responsible for daily operations.
Josh Stark, Trent Van Epps, Tim Beiko, Barnabe Monnot, Carl Beek and Julian Ma were among the researchers and engineers who left the institution since January. Former researcher Dankrad Feist argued that the differences were related to management problems rather than strategic differences of opinion. Coinbase engineering manager Yuga Cohler described the table as a malfunction.
Former researcher Dankrad Feist suggested that the separations were due to management problems, not strategic disagreements.
Financing pressure came to the fore
The staff reductions come at the same time as growing concerns about core development funding. Trent Van Epps, who served as core development coordinator from 2021 until April this year, warned that developer funding could reach a critical point in the next three to nine months. Van Epps calculated that Ethereum requires about $30 million annually to maintain a team of more than 10 clients.
The Foundation’s four-year Client Incentives Program to support teams developing Ethereum’s core software ended in April 2026. The institution had previously announced that it aims to reduce annual expenditure from approximately 15% of the treasury size to a base of 5% by 2030.
| Title | Data |
|---|---|
| Number of employees laid off | 54 |
| Ratio to total workforce | About 20% |
| Annual core development cost | $30 million |
| spending target | From 15% to 5% in 2030 |
Operating as an independent donor pool, the Protocol Guild has distributed approximately $38 million to Ethereum contributors since 2022. However, it was pointed out that the financial flow was not predictable since the structure was based on voluntary donations, not a fixed budget.
The role of independent structures is growing
A day before the foundation announced the cuts, five former researchers who left the Ethereum Foundation founded an independent, nonprofit research laboratory called Ethlabs. The initiative has received support from Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin, Bitmine Immersion Technologies, SharpLink, Anchorage, and more than 50 community partners.
Vitalik Buterin also highlighted the CROPS framework, consisting of censorship resistance, interception resistance, openness, privacy and security, to support the new direction. Buterin viewed the proliferation of community-funded independent structures as a necessary evolution for the foundation to reduce expenses while ensuring Ethereum’s core development remains strong and decentralized. ETH price is at $1,662 according to CoinMarketCap data. This level remains significantly below the peak of approximately $4,950 seen in August 2025.
