Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of the Ethereum Foundation, has announced a comprehensive restructuring of his leadership. This strategic change, which has been in the works for almost a year, is intended to enhance the technical expertise of the foundation’s leadership and strengthen ties with various ecosystem actors.
Vitalik promises ‘no change’ in core thinking
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said big changes are happening within the leadership of the Ethereum Foundation (EF), a nonprofit organization in Switzerland founded by the blockchain’s original developers to help support Ethereum’s development and manage. Despite these changes, Buterin emphasizes that the foundation’s main objectives will remain unchanged.
In a tweet on X, he said these changes have been going on for almost a year. Some have already been announced, others are still on the way.
Buterin explained that the restructuring aims to increase the technical expertise of Ethereum Foundation leaders and improve the way they communicate with everyone involved in the ecosystem, from individual and enterprise users to app developers, wallet owners providers and Layer 2 solutions.
The changes are also intended to attract new talent, accelerate projects and support app developers in upholding essential values such as privacy, open source development and freedom from censorship.
The co-founder explained that the restructuring will not cover certain areas. He said there will be no shift in their mindset, no aggressive attempts to influence regulators, and no creation of a centralized group influenced by political agendas.
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Vitalik said: “Become a highly centralized organization, or even more of a “main person” within Ethereum: these things are not what EF does and this will not change. People looking for a different vision are welcome to start their own organizations.”
Buterin’s message follows recent criticism of the Ethereum Foundation’s actions and leadership, including from some prominent figures in the Ethereum community. Furthermore, President-elect Trump’s decision to release his official memecoin on Solana instead of Ethereum on Friday evening sparked new complaints on social media.
Joseph Lubin, co-founder of Ethereum and CEO of Consensys, proposed new leadership for the Ethereum Foundation in a recent X-post. He praised the current director, Aya Miyaguchi, but noted the need for change due to the changing industry.
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Recent leadership changes at the Ethereum Foundation include Danny Ryan, a key researcher behind Ethereum’s shift to proof-of-stake, who left in September 2024 after seven years. He was instrumental in leading projects like “The Merge” and launching the Beacon Chain in 2021. Lubin advised Danny Ryan, a key figure in Ethereum’s transition to proof-of-stake, and Jerome de Tychey, president of Ethereum France, as co-manager. leaders.
In January 2025, Hsiao-Wei Wang, who has been with the foundation since 2017 and contributed to Ethereum’s core research, joined the leadership team.
Lubin praised their potential to rejuvenate the foundation and highlighted De Tychey’s call for clearer communication to improve Ethereum’s collaboration and adaptability.