Ethereum, the world’s second-largest blockchain, marked its 11th anniversary on July 30, 2026, entering its second decade amidst a profound organizational shake-up within its stewarding entity, the Ethereum Foundation (EF).
This past year saw a dramatic restructuring, including a 40% budget cut, a 20% workforce reduction affecting 54 staff positions, and the departure of nine senior members, including co-executive directors Hsiao-Wei Wang and Tomasz Stańczak.
Ethereum Foundation overhaul reshapes governance
This internal re-evaluation contrasts sharply with Ethereum’s growing external footprint, characterized by significant technical advancements like the Fusaka upgrade and over $11.23 billion in cumulative inflows into U.S. spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) since their 2024 launch.
The overhaul reflects a deliberate push to decentralize the foundation’s role, aiming for a leaner, more focused organization that reduces its own influence as the broader Ethereum ecosystem matures. New board member Pascal Caversaccio joined the EF on July 29, 2026, as the organization seeks to navigate this complex transition.
Mounting community criticism fueled the Ethereum Foundation’s recent overhaul. Developers and investors expressed frustration over the foundation’s execution pace and what they saw as an inward-looking approach. They pressed for greater transparency and clearer priorities as rival blockchains aggressively pursued growth and market share.
This pressure culminated in sweeping internal changes across the organization. Over the past seven months, nine senior members departed the EF, including key figures like former Co-Executive Director Tomasz Stańczak, who stepped down on February 13, 2026. Co-Executive Director Hsiao-Wei Wang also left in mid-June 2026, effectively ending a dual leadership experiment that had been part of an earlier restructuring effort.
The departures extended to critical technical roles, with at least eight senior researchers leaving over the course of the year. Five of those exits occurred in May alone, highlighting the extent of the leadership and talent flux within the foundation during this period of intense scrutiny and change.
Financial overhaul reshapes operational strategy
Beyond leadership transitions, the Ethereum Foundation implemented significant financial restructuring. It reduced its annual budget by approximately 40% and cut its workforce by 20%, eliminating 54 staff positions. These budget and staffing changes, announced on June 23, 2026, underscore a deliberate effort to streamline operations and refocus resources on core objectives.
The foundation’s treasury, as of October 31, 2024, stood at approximately $970.2 million. Of this, $788.7 million, or 81.3%, was held in crypto assets, with 99.45% of those crypto holdings being Ether (ETH). This ETH represented 0.26% of the total ETH supply at the time.
To fund ongoing operations and manage its balance sheet, the EF converted 5,000 ETH into stablecoins in April. This move is part of a broader treasury management policy designed to cover approximately 2.5 years of expenses.
The foundation is also shifting its spending targets, aiming to reduce its annual outlay from an average of 15% of its remaining funds before 2026 to a more conservative 5% after 2030, reinforcing its long-term financial stability goals.
Decentralizing the institution through spinouts
The reorganization extends beyond personnel and finances to a fundamental redefinition of the Ethereum Foundation’s mission. In March 2026, the foundation published its first formal mandate, introducing the CROPS framework: Censorship Resistance, Open Source, Privacy, and Security. These principles are intended to guide all technical and organizational decisions going forward, emphasizing core decentralized values.
Crucially, the mandate states that the EF’s long-term success should be measured by its diminishing influence over Ethereum. This reflects a philosophical shift towards a self-sustaining ecosystem less reliant on any single guiding institution. The foundation aims to foster greater autonomy across the Ethereum landscape.
This philosophy is already evident through the spinout of new independent entities that have emerged from the EF. These include EthLabs, EthereumSystems, and Ethereum Institutional, each concentrating on distinct areas of ecosystem development. EthereumSystems, for instance, focuses on blockchain privacy technology targeting banks, illustrating a targeted approach to expanding the network’s utility.
These spinouts aim to distribute responsibilities previously centralized under the foundation’s umbrella. The move reinforces the core principle of decentralization, applying it not just to the protocol itself but also to the institutional structures that support its ongoing development and adoption, mirroring Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin’s long-term vision.
Technical advancements endure
Despite the significant internal shifts within the Ethereum Foundation, Ethereum’s technical roadmap has continued its progression unabated. The activation of the Fusaka upgrade on December 3, 2025, demonstrated the network’s development process remained robust and resilient.
Fusaka’s core innovation is PeerDAS, an advanced data availability solution designed to enhance the efficiency of layer-2 scaling solutions. This technical improvement is critical for reducing transaction costs and increasing throughput on the network, directly addressing some of the long-standing challenges in blockchain scalability.
While the Fusaka upgrade didn’t capture public attention on the scale of the network’s most well-known upgrade, the Merge, it represents a crucial milestone in Ethereum’s ongoing strategy to improve scalability. This steady technical advancement highlights the network’s ability to evolve even as its foundational organization undergoes a profound re-evaluation of its role and structure.
Wall Street’s growing embrace
The past year also solidified Ethereum’s position within traditional finance, marking a significant external validation even as the EF navigates internal changes. What began primarily as infrastructure for decentralized finance (DeFi) is now increasingly serving as a base layer for traditional financial institutions.
Major players like asset management giant BlackRock have expanded their engagement, exploring Ethereum DeFi and launching staked Ether ETFs. Investment bank JPMorgan, too, has intensified its blockchain-based settlement initiatives, signalling a broader trend among financial giants using Ethereum for tokenized real-world assets due to its security, composability, and mature developer ecosystem.
This growing institutional acceptance is clearly mirrored in market activity. Since their introduction in 2024, U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs have accumulated over $11.23 billion in net inflows. This substantial figure underscores increasing institutional demand for ETH exposure and a deeper integration of the Ethereum network into the global financial system.
But the institutional relationship with Ethereum isn’t limited to holding its native asset. Traditional finance firms are increasingly issuing financial products directly on the network itself. This represents a pivotal shift, demonstrating confidence in Ethereum’s capabilities as a foundational layer for future financial systems.
Balancing decentralization with evolution
Ethereum’s entry into its second decade presents a striking dichotomy. Internally, the network’s foundational body has undergone intense self-scrutiny, forcing a radical redefinition of its leadership, purpose, and operational scope. EF President Aya Miyaguchi and Swiss counsel and EF board member Patrick Storchenegger, alongside newly appointed Pascal Caversaccio, are now tasked with steering this reformed institution.
Externally, the network has achieved unprecedented integration into global finance, moving from niche technology to mainstream infrastructure. The coming years will test how effectively the Ethereum ecosystem can maintain its decentralized principles while adapting its institutional structures.
This delicate balance will define its evolution, demonstrating whether its foundational spirit can persist even as its operational model transforms to meet the demands of a maturing global presence, proving that true decentralization can extend to its stewardship.