The Ethereum Foundation just cut a fifth of its staff

A Deliberate Restructuring, Not a Market Panic

The Ethereum Foundation (@ethereumfndn) has laid off 54 employees, cutting roughly one fifth of its total workforce. The reductions conclude a months-long internal reorganisation tied to the foundation's updated mandate and treasury strategy. The EF was explicit that the move was structural in nature, framing it as the final step in a planned realignment rather than a reactive response to market conditions, even as $ETH trades near $1,650 in a broader downturn.

The move follows the March publication of its "Mandate," a 38-page document described as "part constitution, part manifesto," and the implementation of its treasury policy. Going forward, the foundation will operate across five distinct clusters: protocol layer, access layer, user layer, community layer, and institutional layer, each designed to achieve specific goals for Ethereum's future. The foundation says the restructuring reshapes the organisation around work only the EF can do.

Affected staff will receive severance of one month's pay per year of service, plus transition assistance and ecosystem placement support. The foundation has also signalled plans to bring annual spending down from about 15% of its treasury to a 5% baseline by 2030, a strategy it calls "Subtraction."

Leadership Exits and an Ecosystem Filling the Gap

The layoffs come against a backdrop of significant leadership turnover. Co-executive director Hsiao-Wei Wang stepped down earlier this month, following the prior departure of co-executive director Tomasz Stańczak. In total, roughly nine senior figures have left or transitioned out of the Ethereum Foundation over the past six months, fuelling scrutiny of the organisation's governance model and performance.

Even as the EF contracts, activity around Ethereum is expanding elsewhere. Five former Ethereum Foundation researchers have launched an independent nonprofit called Ethlabs, backed by SharpLink and Bitmine, two of the largest corporate ETH holders, as well as Consensys CEO and Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin. Ethlabs' initial work will focus on faster transaction settlement, expanding Ethereum's capacity, and improving infrastructure for institutions issuing tokenised assets and stablecoins on-chain.

The launch follows a separate funding debate. Tom Lee, chairman of Bitmine, responded to warnings of a potential protocol funding crisis by stating that the possibility of such a crisis was zero, writing "Funding secured." Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has also introduced the CROPS framework to anchor the foundation's new direction, and has described the rise of independent organisations like Ethlabs as the necessary evolution to ensure Ethereum's core development stays strong and decentralised.

Sources:
CoinDesk: Ethereum Foundation Cuts 20% of Staff Amid Leadership Exodus
CoinDesk: Joe Lubin, SharpLink, Tom Lee's Bitmine Back New Ethereum Research Lab
PR Newswire: Ethlabs Official Launch Press Release