The Ethereum Foundation (EF) has unveiled major organizational changes, including layoffs within its research and development team and the rebranding of this unit to simply “Protocol.” The restructuring is aimed at sharpening the foundation’s focus on Ethereum’s core infrastructure, scalability, and user experience.

From PR&D to “Protocol”: A New Direction

In a blog post published Monday, the foundation confirmed that several members of its former PR&D (Protocol Research & Development) team were let go. The move reflects a rethinking of the foundation’s approach to protocol design, development, and governance.

“We need to ask deeper questions about how we build Ethereum,” the post stated. “This means parting ways with some teammates.”

The division has now been renamed to “Protocol”, signaling a shift toward new priorities such as scaling Ethereum’s base layer, improving blobspace, enhancing UX, and advancing L2 technologies and zk-rollups.

A Call to the Community and Clearer Goals

The foundation encouraged other teams in the Ethereum ecosystem to consider hiring the released talent, while assuring that it remains committed to Ethereum’s development.

Although EF has not disclosed how many team members were laid off, it emphasized that the new “Protocol” team will now focus more on transparent updates, accessible technical resources, and publishing research results.

New Leadership, New Priorities

This move is part of a broader leadership overhaul that began in January 2025. At that time, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin announced a new governance model designed to improve competitiveness, privacy, decentralization, and innovation.

Recent changes include:

🔹 Aya Miyaguchi stepped down as Executive Director to become EF’s new President.

🔹 She was succeeded by Hsiao-Wei Wang and Tomasz Stańczak, who were appointed as co-executive directors.

🔹 In April, EF split its governance into a Board of Directors and an Executive Management Board.

🔹 Former researcher Danny Ryan left EF to join Etherealize, a project aimed at bringing ETH to Wall Street.

Mixed Reactions: Praise and Criticism from the Community

While EF says the changes are necessary, community reactions have been mixed. Some critics argue that Ethereum hasn’t significantly improved transaction speed and is falling behind Solana in developer engagement. Others complain about persistently high gas fees, halted expansion plans, and stagnation in leadership.

Still, the foundation hopes this new structure will help refocus on strategic goals, empower new application developers, and reassert Ethereum’s position as a technological leader.




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