The Ethereum Foundation (EF) has announced a major restructuring of its research and development (R&D) division, including a round of layoffs, as it seeks to address growing concerns about its protocol design and strategic direction.
Leadership Changes and Layoffs Reflect Broader Realignment
In a blog post published Monday, the Switzerland-based nonprofit revealed that it is laying off undisclosed members of its R&D team as part of a plan to rebrand and refocus its internal operations. The organization acknowledged that “some members of PR&D won’t be continuing with the Ethereum Foundation,” while encouraging others in the ecosystem to hire the impacted talent.
The restructuring is part of an effort to sharpen focus on imminent technical issues that could threaten Ethereum’s long-standing dominance in the blockchain space.
New Focus: Scalability, Data Availability, and UX
The former “Protocol Research and Development” division is being renamed simply as “Protocol” and will now center its work around three core priorities:
- Scaling Ethereum’s base layer
- Expanding blobspace, a critical part of Ethereum’s data availability roadmap
- Improving user experience (UX)
EF emphasized that this restructuring marks a significant shift in its working model, stating:
“The changes we’re announcing today are a departure from our previous ways of working, but we feel these set us on a more responsive and effective path.”
Community Backlash Spurs Change
The move comes amid ongoing criticism from the Ethereum community over the Foundation’s management and responsiveness. For more than a year, some developers and researchers have warned that Ethereum could lose its competitive edge if core design challenges are not promptly addressed.
“We’re hopeful that this new structure will empower our internal teams to focus more clearly and drive key initiatives forward,” said Hsiao-Wei Weng, EF’s newly appointed co-executive director.
The announcement follows earlier leadership reshuffles, signaling a deeper shift in how the Ethereum Foundation intends to manage protocol development going forward.
Looking Ahead: Transparency and Coordination Key
The new Protocol team will act as a central hub for Ethereum core development, with goals that include improving transparency on upgrade timelines, strengthening public documentation, and guiding research more efficiently.
This pivot aims to preserve Ethereum’s leading role in the blockchain ecosystem by addressing technical bottlenecks head-on.