In a significant leadership transition at the heart of the Ethereum ecosystem, Tomasz, who has served as a Co-Executive Director of the Ethereum Foundation (EF), announced his departure from the role, effective at the end of February 2026. This marks a pivotal moment for the influential organization that underpins much of the Ethereum network’s development and growth. Stepping into the co-leadership alongside Hsiao-Wei, Bastian Aue will assume the Co-Executive Director position, signaling a continued commitment to the EF’s strategic vision. The announcement was made internally and shared publicly, outlining a positive outlook for Ethereum’s future, its builders, and the foundation itself.
A Period of Profound Transformation for Ethereum
The announcement arrives at a time of accelerated innovation and adoption for the Ethereum network. The original author of the statement highlighted the inherent uncertainty within the rapidly evolving blockchain landscape, characterized by fluctuating markets and emerging technological paradigms. However, a core tenet of the Ethereum community, as articulated, is the enduring conviction in the network’s technological foundation, its decentralized governance, and its long-term potential. This shared understanding, the author suggests, fosters a consistent convergence of effort, even as individual explorations venture into novel territories.
Over the past year, the focus has been on understanding and shaping the future trajectory of Ethereum. This period has been marked by the discernible migration of traditional financial infrastructure onto the Ethereum blockchain. Simultaneously, the emergence of automated, agentic interactions is poised to redefine how decentralized applications and networks operate. Projections indicate a near-term future where advancements in robotics, novel governance models, and the integration of Artificial Intelligence into critical sectors like healthcare and education will become commonplace. The author posits that Ethereum is strategically positioned to serve as the foundational layer for the coordination of these increasingly interconnected technologies.
The rapid progress in open-source Large Language Models (LLMs) and the burgeoning field of open-source agentic workers are creating unprecedented excitement among developers and creators, reminiscent of the early days of Ethereum. These advancements, however, also introduce complex privacy and security challenges. As the world undergoes swift transformations, Ethereum is solidifying its role as the underlying infrastructure for verification and financial transactions. The cypherpunk ethos, a cornerstone of Ethereum’s philosophy, remains robust, with a dedicated community of privacy advocates and security experts working to ensure the network upholds user privacy and facilitates access to essential digital infrastructure.
By 2025, Ethereum has demonstrably emerged as the preferred institutional choice within the blockchain space. Data from various dashboards reportedly indicate a growing market share for Ethereum in stablecoin issuance and Real-World Asset (RWA) tokenization. Its reputation as the lowest-risk blockchain is attributed to its credible neutrality, robust decentralization, and an unbroken uptime record since its inception. These attributes offer institutions a unique infrastructure with minimized counterparty, technological, and jurisdictional risks. The increasing prominence of Ethereum in global financial centers is further underscored by the upcoming major institutional Ethereum conference scheduled to take place in New York this year, signaling a maturation of its role in the global financial system. The convergence of AI advancements and the progressive integration into world financial systems creates an exceptionally fertile ground for innovation and development on the Ethereum platform.
The Ethereum Foundation: A Hub of Strategic Evolution
The outgoing Co-Executive Director emphasized the personal significance of presenting the co-ED role at the EF as one that offers substantial impact and desirability. This position, he noted, allows for meaningful contributions by empowering individuals with exceptional talent and dedication, both within the Foundation and across the broader Ethereum ecosystem.
The EF has demonstrated a remarkable capacity for rapid change, a testament to its highly skilled workforce and a clear strategic direction for 2026. The co-ED tenure has been described as profoundly rewarding, strategically challenging, and a source of considerable joy and inspiration. The author acknowledged the immense support received from the wider community. The current state of affairs is viewed with satisfaction, characterized by a clearer roadmap, well-defined objectives, and a growing confidence among EF leaders in their ability to make independent decisions and assume greater ownership.
Key objectives pursued during this period have included accelerating decision-making processes, engaging with younger generations, revitalizing excitement within the builder community, enhancing open communication across social media and podcasts, fostering greater institutional engagement, supporting founders, establishing robust treasury policies, strengthening local hubs and communities, introducing a formal compensation policy, clarifying the Layer 1 (L1) to Layer 2 (L2) relationship, and increasing internal and external transparency regarding budgets and organizational structure. Many of these initiatives have been successfully completed or are undergoing continuous improvement. Crucially, the individuals responsible for driving these changes remain actively involved in advancing Ethereum’s development.
The perception of ETH as a store of value is gaining widespread recognition. The author also highlighted that certain transformative changes can only materialize through unexpected breakthroughs. As the individual’s capacity for independent execution within the EF gradually diminishes, the remaining time in 2026 is framed as a period of transition, facilitating the handover of responsibilities. The EF is described as being in a healthy organizational state, capable of balancing long-term objectives with the imperative for adaptation. Its unique characteristics, including its dynamic nature, resilience, and the intelligence of its leadership, are noted as key strengths.
The advent of 2026 brings considerable optimism regarding the EF’s future role in Ethereum’s evolution. A proposal for a unified LEAN Ethereum and core development roadmap is anticipated, outlining the long-term trajectory for the Ethereum protocol as envisioned by the EF Protocol team. This roadmap is expected to provide clear guidance and a framework for coordination throughout 2026 and beyond. Following the successful delivery of two network upgrades in 2025, and with the support of the EF’s coordination teams, core developers are well-positioned to continue delivering essential protocol improvements on schedule.
A clearly defined "quantum strategy" is in place, with leading quantum security researchers finalizing specifications and top engineers actively engaged in implementation. Post-quantum security is identified as a critical component of the EF Protocol roadmap, addressing potential future threats to cryptographic integrity.
Furthermore, a dedicated decentralized AI team within the EF is actively developing standards, conducting experiments, and creating solutions for the burgeoning agentic economy, as evidenced by their contributions to initiatives like [1] and [2].
The Ecosystem Development (EcoDev) team is focused on ensuring the success of founders, institutions, and governments building on Ethereum. A specialized Global Policy Support team is also in place. The organization is increasingly leveraging AI to automate its efforts and enhance coordination. Communication regarding roadmaps, use cases, and applications has become significantly clearer, thanks to the exemplary work of the teams at ethereum.org and forkcast.org.
A significant point of discussion and challenge over the past year has revolved around the L1-L2 relationship. Recent communications from Vitalik Buterin aim to provide greater clarity on this evolving dynamic. L2 solutions extend or build upon Ethereum, each with distinct trade-offs concerning security and decentralization. L2s strategically differentiate themselves by managing risks and optimizing user experience across parameters such as scaling, decentralization, historical state availability, and privacy. The EF has established a Platform team tasked with fostering dialogue among over 20 Ethereum L2s to discuss the future of scaling, differentiation, and interoperability. This initiative culminated in the "Network School" event, bringing together various L2 ecosystems. Teams building based rollups, native rollups, and synchronous composability are embarking on the current year with more focused visions. Notably, major Ethereum rollups have increasingly begun to surpass all alternative Layer 1 (AltL1) blockchains in stablecoin volume and transactions per second (TPS) metrics, a trend anticipated to continue.
While the EF has become more receptive to applications and institutional engagement, its core remains rooted in cypherpunk values. Groups like Vitalik’s Silviculture Society provide advisory support to senior leadership on emerging risks and offer cautionary guidance against potential missteps. Through a series of public statements in early 2026, Vitalik has emphasized the importance of preserving what is fundamental to the EF’s existence. The work undertaken by PSE and Kohaku is currently centered on applied privacy research. The Protocol team is dedicating increased resources to security and censorship resistance through initiatives like FOCIL and the Trillion Dollar Security program.
The upcoming Devcon in Mumbai is anticipated to convene global blockchain thought leaders and founders to collaborate on Ethereum’s advancement. The Indian community, long deserving of such an event, will host Devcon in 2026, a development the author expresses pride in.
In 2026, the EF is also enhancing its ability to connect with the new generation of builders. The contributions of emerging voices within the EF, alongside the dedicated efforts of individuals working with founders and media behind the scenes, are injecting fresh energy into the organization and are expected to sustain community excitement throughout the year. This is particularly relevant given the burgeoning movement around agentic AI and Ethereum’s ascendance as a trusted infrastructure layer for this technology.
The "Ethereum Everywhere" initiative continues to bolster established hubs in San Francisco, Lagos, London, Berlin, and Hong Kong. The Academic Secretariat team is planning an expanded schedule of university events, and the "pop-up cities" concept is maintaining momentum, fostering a more organized and collaborative environment. New builders and long-term visionaries are actively connecting and collaborating globally.
In the coming weeks, the EF’s DeFi coordination team is set to publish a comprehensive blog post detailing their plans and roadmap. The author expresses significant enthusiasm for the caliber of talent that has joined the EF to support DeFi coordination, emphasizing that these individuals are ideally suited to bolster the DeFi ecosystem.
Hsiao-Wei will continue in her leadership role, guiding the ongoing development. Bastian Aue’s expanded leadership alongside Hsiao-Wei signifies a deepening of the co-ED structure. Regardless of the direction they choose, they will be supported by some of the most talented individuals in the cryptocurrency space. James Smith, who spearheaded the significant transformation of the EcoDev sector, focusing on builders, founders, and institutional engagement, will continue his mission. Policy support and long-term strategic work will proceed under the capable leadership of Bastian Aue and Tju Liang. Josh Stark’s exceptional ability to execute operational changes rapidly, including leading significant communication enhancements across social media in 2025, is a key asset. Engineers and researchers within the Protocol cluster are working with greater synergy and confidence, setting future roadmaps and tackling complex technological challenges. The EF is characterized by its agility, with changes often occurring within days or weeks.
Personal Trajectory: A Return to Core Innovation
Looking ahead, Tomasz will maintain open communication channels for individuals seeking support in connecting with EF personnel or discussing Ethereum’s vision and strategy. He will remain available to advise EF leadership, acknowledging that he has frequently received valuable counsel from them in the past. A commitment to consistently encouraging the Ethereum ecosystem to advance at a rapid pace is a stated objective.
Future endeavors may involve continued travel, engagement with local communities, and assisting businesses in building on Ethereum. A significant focus is planned for acting more as a core developer and a hands-on product builder, with specific interests in agentic core development and agentic governance. This sentiment echoes the author’s feelings when co-founding Nethermind in 2017, a period marked by the conviction that a significant shift was underway and that Ethereum was poised to redefine financial systems. His prior experience in the financial industry was then leveraged to facilitate an evolutionary rather than revolutionary transition. The current conviction is that agentic systems and AI-assisted discovery are fundamentally reshaping the global landscape. While acknowledging the impermanence of some agentic ideas, the author emphasizes the value of playful experimentation, a defining characteristic of early Ethereum innovation.
The intention is to continue working directly with founders in frontier technologies and within the Ethereum ecosystem. The author seeks to witness and support the realization of the long-term vision previously articulated, identifying the current period as one of the most exciting times to be a builder on Ethereum.
Acknowledging Contributions and the Path Forward
The author expresses the impossibility of listing every individual who has contributed to his work, the EF, and Ethereum throughout 2025. During his tenure at the EF, he visited over 20 countries for work-related purposes and dedicated significant time to engaging with local communities. This involved interactions with thousands of individuals, including builders, financiers, educators, policymakers, creators, and researchers. He expresses gratitude for the supportive words, challenging questions, and constructive criticism received.
Heartfelt thanks are extended to the EF board for the decisive action of appointing him as co-ED alongside Hsiao-Wei. Appreciation is also directed towards Hsiao-Wei and the management team for their swift and collaborative efforts. Significant gratitude is conveyed to Bastian Aue, Josh Stark, and Tju Liang for their emotional intelligence and facilitation of thoughtful discussions during challenging periods. Joe Schweitzer is thanked for his contributions to numerous podcasts, aiding in the broader dissemination of insights on Ethereum’s future.
Special thanks are extended to hundreds of Ethereum leaders who reached out in March and April 2025, providing critical feedback on areas requiring attention and sharing their perspectives on EF strategy. This input, the author states, was instrumental in navigating the correct path forward.
Finally, profound thanks are offered to every individual at the EF for their commitment to executing their beliefs and leveraging their talents. The transition marks a new chapter for the Ethereum Foundation and the broader ecosystem, built on a foundation of collaboration and a shared vision for the future.
