Ethereum Foundation restructures, rebrands Protocol team

The Ethereum Foundation (EF) has restructured its internal development group, rebranding its core research team and laying off some staff in the process.

According to a June 2 announcement, the EF’s former Protocol Research & Development (PR&D) team is now simply “Protocol,” which will focus on three strategic goals: scaling Ethereum’s base layer (L1), expanding blobspace for rollups, and improving user experience (UX).  

“This process of “shipping protocol” is messy, asking us to respond proactively to demands that are hard to articulate and even harder to fulfill,” the EF said.

The Foundation marketed the move as a pivotal moment for Ethereum, as advances in zero-knowledge rollups (zkEVMs) and layer-2 technologies push the blockchain closer to large-scale adoption.

“This moment may be Ethereum’s best shot at deploying not only our technology, but our values, at planetary scale.”

The revamp has affected the Foundation’s personnel. Longtime core developers such as Tim Beiko, Alex Stokes and Barnabé Monnot were formally assigned to each of the focus areas. 

As part of the restructuring, “some members” of the PR&D team are departing, it said. The EF didn’t specify how many individuals were affected. Cointelegraph reached out for comment but had not received a response at the time of publication.

“Protocol is now a more united and leaner organization with more focused teams,” the EF said. 

Ethereum’s shake-up continues

The EF has undergone significant leadership and structural changes over the past few months. 

In January, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin announced changes to the EF’s leadership model, targeting a shift toward technical expertise and improved communication with developers. The announcement was followed by a period of internal criticism and debate about the foundation’s strategic direction and transparency.

A broader structural adjustment took place in April, when the EF formalized a division between its board and executive functions and named two new co-executive directors: Hsiao-Wei Wang, a longtime Ethereum researcher, and Tomasz Stańczak, CEO of infrastructure company Nethermind.

Under the new model, the board, which includes Buterin, is tasked with setting long-term vision, while the newly appointed executive team handles operations.

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