The Ethereum Foundation (EF) has announced a significant restructuring, marking the culmination of a months-long process aimed at aligning its operations with its long-term mandate and treasury management policies. This strategic realignment, detailed in a recent announcement, introduces a new organizational framework designed to enhance execution on critical Ethereum development goals. The reorganization, however, also resulted in the departure of 54 employees, representing approximately 20% of the foundation’s workforce. These individuals are expected to continue contributing to the Ethereum ecosystem in various capacities.
A Refined Structure for Enhanced Execution
The revamped Ethereum Foundation is now organized into seven distinct clusters, each with a specialized domain of work. This structural evolution is a direct response to the evolving needs of the Ethereum protocol and its surrounding ecosystem, guided by the principles outlined in the EF’s Mandate and its Treasury Management Policy. The newly defined clusters are:
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Protocol Layer: This cluster inherits the foundational responsibility for the core Ethereum protocol. Its mission is to ensure Ethereum delivers on its promise of scaling self-sovereignty by hardening and advancing the protocol itself. The emphasis here is on maintaining and enhancing the protocol’s inherent properties: censorship and capture resistance, open-source ethos, privacy, and security as non-negotiable guarantees. This work is long-term, focusing on making Ethereum more resilient against corruption and capture, rather than prioritizing short-term marketability or easy integration into existing financial systems. Key areas of focus include safe execution of hard forks, reducing complexity, minimizing trusted dependencies, defending the transaction pipeline from malicious MEV (Maximal Extractable Value) and privileged order flow, and accelerating research into areas like post-quantum security, zkEVM, and L1 privacy.
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Access Layer: This cluster is dedicated to ensuring that Ethereum’s core properties of censorship resistance, capture resistance, open-source principles, privacy, and security (CROPS) are practically available and survivable for individuals interacting with the network. Its objective is to make self-sovereignty legible and accessible across crucial actions such as reading chain data, transacting, proving, delegating, and exiting. This layer must support users and the agents acting on their behalf, enabling them to access state and historical data without relying on untrustworthy intermediaries. The focus is on facilitating private and censorship-resistant transactions, with guaranteed outcomes or cost-free failures. A key principle is the "zero option," meaning for every intermediated path, a credible intermediary-free alternative must exist and remain accessible.
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User Layer: This cluster grounds the EF’s work in the realities of users and organizations that have a vested interest in the self-sovereign use of Ethereum. It aims to understand which capabilities are most crucial, identify the most serious failure modes, and determine acceptable trade-offs. The work encompasses user segmentation, persona development, educational material creation, use-case research, and impact evaluation. The objective is not for the EF to become a product development studio, but rather to ensure that decisions made by the Protocol and Access layers are informed by the needs and constraints of current and potential users, and by concrete measures of self-sovereignty.
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Community Layer: This cluster is responsible for the EF’s external presence and engagement. Its mandate is to clearly articulate what the EF stands for and how it differentiates itself from speculative financial crypto, compromised corporate interests, and bureaucratic grant-making organizations. The EF is committed to maximizing its community value by maintaining independence from such entanglements. This cluster also cultivates relationships beyond the immediate Ethereum ecosystem, identifying natural allies in free and open-source software, secure hardware, privacy research, civil liberties advocacy, and public-interest technology. The goal is to foster fruitful and high-quality intersections between Ethereum and these broader technological and social movements.
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Institutional Layer: This cluster focuses on the EF’s engagement with institutions that shape how end-users interact with Ethereum through intermediated paths. This includes financial institutions (e.g., payments, insurance), non-financial enterprises (e.g., manufacturing, publishing), government applications, and academic or non-profit groups. The primary goal is to showcase effective integrations of Ethereum and cryptographic technologies that enhance CROPS properties for both institutions and users. This involves ensuring fair execution, data portability, practical exit strategies, privacy protection, data authenticity, and misbehavior prevention. The cluster also works to establish and communicate best practices, standards, reference architectures, and educational materials for institutional adoption. Furthermore, it engages with academics and advocacy organizations to ensure accurate understanding of Ethereum’s potential and to monitor and respond to policy and regulatory developments impacting its core principles.
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Operations Cluster: While not detailed as a domain of work in the same vein as the five application layers, the presence of an operations cluster indicates a dedicated focus on the internal functioning and efficiency of the foundation.
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Management and Support: This cluster comprises leadership and teams directly supporting management, ensuring overarching strategy and operational coherence.
A Necessary Transition: Addressing Workforce Changes
The reorganization necessitated a reduction in the EF’s workforce, with 54 individuals departing. This decision, described as difficult but necessary, aims to ensure the foundation is "resourced and organized in a way that allows us to focus on the critical work that only EF can, and therefore must, do in the coming years, without excessive disruption from short-term market movements."
To support those leaving, the EF has implemented a comprehensive package. This includes severance pay calculated as the higher of one month’s salary per year of service at the EF or the amount mandated by local jurisdiction. This policy mirrors the support offered to employees in previous transitions. Additionally, transition support is provided, which includes assistance in finding new roles within the Ethereum ecosystem and a small transition grant to cover individual expenses such as career coaching. The EF expressed gratitude for the talent, dedication, and time contributed by these individuals and looks forward to their continued engagement with Ethereum from new platforms.
Context and Chronology of the Reorganization
The announcement marks the formal conclusion of a reorganization process that has been underway for several months. This period likely involved extensive internal discussions, strategic reviews, and operational planning. The implementation of the EF’s Mandate, a foundational document outlining the organization’s purpose and long-term vision, and the Treasury Management Policy, which governs the allocation and utilization of its financial resources, have been the driving forces behind this restructuring.
The Mandate, first published in 2025, articulated a commitment to advancing Ethereum’s core principles, particularly focusing on self-sovereignty, decentralization, and censorship resistance. The Treasury Management Policy, also updated in 2025, aimed to provide a clear framework for responsible financial stewardship, ensuring that the EF’s resources are deployed effectively towards achieving its mission, especially in light of market volatility and the long-term nature of protocol development. This reorganization is a tangible step in aligning the EF’s internal structure and operational capacity with the strategic directives laid out in these key documents. The decision to streamline operations and focus resources reflects a mature approach to organizational development within a rapidly evolving technological landscape.
Broader Implications for the Ethereum Ecosystem
This restructuring by the Ethereum Foundation carries significant implications for the broader Ethereum ecosystem. By adopting a more specialized, cluster-based approach, the EF signals a commitment to deep specialization and targeted impact.
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Enhanced Protocol Development: The strengthened Protocol Layer cluster, with its explicit focus on long-term research and hardening the core network, suggests a renewed emphasis on the foundational integrity and scalability of Ethereum. This could accelerate advancements in areas like sharding, zero-knowledge proofs, and enhanced privacy features, crucial for Ethereum’s continued evolution as a global computing platform.
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Improved User Experience and Accessibility: The dedicated Access and User layers aim to bridge the gap between complex cryptographic concepts and real-world usability. This focus on making Ethereum more accessible, understandable, and survivable for everyday users and organizations could drive broader adoption and solidify Ethereum’s position as a platform for decentralized applications and services.
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Strategic External Engagement: The Community and Institutional layers underscore the EF’s intent to engage more strategically with the world. By fostering relationships with allied movements and providing clear guidance for institutional adoption, the EF is positioning Ethereum not just as a technological innovation but as a force for broader societal and economic transformation, grounded in principles of freedom and autonomy.
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Long-Term Sustainability: The focus on treasury management and the necessary streamlining of operations indicates a move towards greater organizational efficiency and long-term sustainability. This is crucial for an organization that plays a pivotal role in funding and guiding the development of a complex, open-source ecosystem.
The departure of a portion of the workforce, while regrettable, is a common occurrence in organizational restructuring. The EF’s commitment to providing comprehensive support for departing employees, including severance and transition assistance, reflects a responsible approach to workforce management. The expectation that many of these individuals will continue contributing to Ethereum from outside the EF highlights the strength and interconnectedness of the Ethereum community, where talent and expertise often find new avenues for impact.
Looking Ahead
The Ethereum Foundation has indicated that further details regarding the specific activities and strategic priorities within each new cluster will be shared in the coming weeks and months. This phased approach suggests a deliberate rollout of its new operational framework. The EF anticipates that this leaner, more focused structure will enable it to execute on its critical mission with greater efficacy, ensuring Ethereum continues to evolve as a robust, decentralized, and censorship-resistant platform for years to come. The success of this reorganization will be measured by its ability to accelerate innovation, enhance ecosystem participation, and ultimately, advance the core principles upon which Ethereum was founded.
