The Ethereum Foundation has announced a new leadership team, reorienting its development strategy.

The Ethereum Foundation has launched a new leadership model with two Co-Executive Directors: Hsiao-Wei Wang - a core researcher at the organization, and Tomasz Stańczak - the CEO of Nethermind, one of the largest Ethereum clients. This decision marks an important shift in the Ethereum Foundation's development strategy.

According to the announcement on March 1, Wang has seven years of research experience at the Ethereum Foundation, while Stańczak is known for his strong leadership in growing a startup into a global company. Both will officially take on their roles on March 17.

The Ethereum Foundation emphasizes that the Ethereum ecosystem is undergoing a critical transition. From a platform serving a small group of enthusiasts, Ethereum is aiming to become a global financial and software system with censorship-resistance capabilities.

Additionally, last week, the Ethereum Foundation also saw a major personnel change as Aya Miyaguchi, who held the position of Executive Director for seven years, has transitioned to the role of Chair.

Ethereum faces many major challenges

The high-level personnel changes are taking place against the backdrop of Ethereum facing pressure from multiple fronts:

• The ETH price is struggling to recover to its previous all-time high.
• Fierce competition from high-performance blockchains.
• Concerns about the weakening of the core ecosystem due to the proliferation of Layer-2 scaling solutions.

To strengthen the network, Vitalik Buterin proposed an upgrade strategy on January 23, including increasing the number of blobs to expand transaction capacity and encouraging Layer-2 to contribute a portion of fees to Ethereum.

Additionally, on February 13, the Ethereum Foundation transferred 45,000 ETH (equivalent to $120 million) into decentralized finance protocols like Aave, Compound, and Spark to generate passive income, rather than selling ETH on the market.

Strengthening communication and expanding the Ethereum network

The Ethereum Foundation is ramping up its marketing efforts, establishing Etherealize - an organization dedicated to marketing Ethereum to institutional investors. Danny Ryan, a long-time Ethereum developer, has joined Etherealize as a co-founder alongside Vivek Raman starting March 1.

Ryan said he will focus on connecting Ethereum with the real world, driving adoption, supporting ecosystem development, and researching Layer-1, Layer-2, and applications on Ethereum.

The Ethereum Foundation is also seeking a social media manager to enhance the network's online presence.

Restructuring governance under community pressure

In January 2025, Vitalik Buterin declared sole decision-making authority over the Ethereum Foundation and criticized the community pressures on the organization's personnel. He warned that "constant pressure" could create a toxic environment and lead to the loss of critical talent.

As part of the restructuring, the Ethereum Foundation has spun off several new organizations to manage and promote different aspects of the ecosystem. Etherealize will be responsible for education and outreach to large investment funds, while the Silviculture Society - an independent advisory group - will focus on Ethereum's core values such as open-source, security, privacy, and decentralization. Currently, the Silviculture Society has 15 members, but it is unclear whether this number will increase in the future.

With the ETH price still unable to return to its 2021 all-time high of $4,800, the declining investor confidence is putting significant pressure on Vitalik Buterin and the Ethereum Foundation team to chart the future direction of Ethereum.