Ethereum Foundation Cuts 20% of Workforce Amid Leadership Shake-Up
The Ethereum Foundation layoffs have landed, and they’re bigger than many expected. The nonprofit behind the world’s second-largest blockchain confirmed on Tuesday that it is cutting 54 positions, roughly 20% of its total staff, in a move it says will leave the organization “leaner and more focused.”
The announcement, posted to the Foundation’s official blog, caps off months of internal restructuring tied to an updated mandate and treasury policy. But the timing is hard to ignore. These Ethereum Foundation layoffs arrive on the heels of a brutal stretch for the organization’s leadership bench, with departures piling up faster than replacements can be named.
Co-executive director Hsiao-Wei Wang stepped down earlier this month, following closely behind co-executive director Tomasz StaÅ„czak’s own exit. That left board member Bastian Aue holding expanded responsibilities to keep day-to-day operations from stalling. All told, around nine senior figures have either left or transitioned out of the Foundation over the past six months, a churn rate that has put the organization’s governance model under a harsh spotlight.
The Foundation insists the cuts aren’t just damage control. As part of the shake-up, it has reorganized its remaining work into five clusters, including a dedicated institutional layer built around enterprise engagement, financial infrastructure, and policy coordination. A spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment before publication.
What makes the moment more striking is the contrast playing out elsewhere in the ecosystem. While the Foundation tightens its belt, some of Ethereum’s biggest corporate backers are doubling down. BitMine Immersion Technologies and SharpLink Gaming, two of the largest publicly traded Ethereum treasury companies, joined Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin this week in backing ETHLabs, a brand-new nonprofit research and development initiative aimed at speeding up Ethereum’s technical roadmap and pulling in more institutional adoption.
It’s a split that says a lot about where Ethereum stands right now: one pillar shrinking and recalibrating, another expanding with fresh capital and ambition, all while the network faces sharper competition from rival chains. Whether the Ethereum Foundation layoffs mark the bottom of the turbulence or just another chapter in it is the question everyone in the space is now asking.
