Layla Zulfa
Zurich, Switzerland – The Ethereum Foundation (EF) has announced a significant leadership transition, with Co-Executive Director Tomasz set to step down from his role at the end of February 2026. Bastian Aue, a key figure within the organization, will assume an expanded leadership position, taking over the co-Executive Director responsibilities alongside current co-ED Hsiao-Wei. This strategic shift marks a new chapter for the foundation, signaling both continuity in its mission and a renewed focus on emerging technological frontiers within the Ethereum ecosystem.
The announcement, communicated by Tomasz himself, reflects a deliberate and well-prepared transition, underscoring the foundation’s robust health and clear strategic direction. Tomasz expressed profound optimism for the future of Ethereum, the EF, and his own continued contributions to the blockchain space. His departure comes after a tenure marked by accelerated operational improvements, enhanced community engagement, and a sharpened institutional focus, leaving the EF well-positioned for its ambitious goals in 2026 and beyond.
The Ethereum Foundation: Stewarding a Global Protocol
The Ethereum Foundation operates as a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting Ethereum and related technologies. Its primary mission involves fostering the development, research, and widespread adoption of the Ethereum protocol, a decentralized, open-source blockchain with smart contract functionality. The co-Executive Director role is pivotal, tasked with guiding the foundation’s strategic initiatives, overseeing its diverse teams, and ensuring alignment with the broader Ethereum community’s vision.
Tomasz’s journey to the co-ED position brought a wealth of entrepreneurial and technical expertise. Prior to his leadership role at the EF, he founded Nethermind in 2017, a prominent Ethereum client and blockchain research and development firm. His deep understanding of the financial industry and blockchain technology positioned him uniquely to bridge the gap between traditional finance and the nascent decentralized economy, a perspective he aimed to imbue into Ethereum’s evolution. This background shaped his vision for Ethereum not merely as a technological innovation but as a foundational layer for future financial and societal infrastructure.
A Period of Transformative Growth and Strategic Clarity
During his time as co-Executive Director, Tomasz championed a series of initiatives designed to bolster the EF’s efficacy and impact. He aimed to make the co-ED role itself a beacon of impactful leadership, demonstrating how one could empower talent and drive meaningful change across the Ethereum ecosystem. His efforts culminated in significant operational and strategic advancements, many of which were realized throughout 2025 and are set to continue in 2026.
Key achievements during this period included a marked acceleration in decision-making processes within the EF, fostering a culture where leaders gained confidence in autonomous decision-making. Communication strategies were overhauled, leading to more open engagement on social media and through podcasts, aiming to connect with younger generations and reinvigorate the builder community. The foundation also made concerted efforts to become more accessible to institutions, supporting founders, and establishing clearer treasury and compensation policies. Internally and externally, transparency around budgets and organizational structure saw consistent improvement, contributing to a more accountable and efficient operation.
Tomasz noted the successful delivery of two network upgrades in 2025, a testament to the core developers’ dedication and the EF’s coordination teams. These upgrades are vital for maintaining Ethereum’s competitiveness, security, and scalability. The foundation also solidified its commitment to long-term protocol security by developing a clear quantum strategy, involving top researchers and engineers to finalize specifications and implement post-quantum security measures.
Furthermore, the EF established a dedicated decentralized AI team, actively working on delivering standards, experiments, and solutions for the burgeoning "agentic economy." This forward-looking initiative recognizes the increasing convergence of artificial intelligence and blockchain technology, positioning Ethereum as a natural infrastructure layer for these advanced interactions.
Ethereum’s Ascendance: Institutional Adoption and AI Integration
Tomasz’s vision for Ethereum’s future is one of profound transformation, extending far beyond its current applications. He emphasized that despite market volatility and the rise and fall of competing ideas, the conviction in Ethereum’s technology, governance, and societal meaning remains steadfast. This deep understanding, he posits, ensures intermittent convergence even as individual curiosities drive explorations far from canonical paths.
By 2025, Ethereum had emerged as the clear institutional preference within the blockchain space. Data dashboards highlighted Ethereum’s growing market share in stablecoins and Real World Asset (RWA) activity, cementing its reputation as the lowest-risk chain. This preference is rooted in Ethereum’s core tenets: credible neutrality, unparalleled decentralization, and an impeccable record of no downtime since its genesis. These attributes present institutions with an infrastructure boasting uniquely low counterparty, technology, and jurisdiction risk. The anticipation for a major institutional Ethereum conference in New York in 2026 further underscores this deepening integration with global financial centers.
The integration of AI and agentic systems into the world’s financial and operational frameworks presents a historically exciting period for building on Ethereum. Tomasz foresees a future where robots, novel forms of governance, and AI-driven healthcare and education systems will increasingly rely on Ethereum as a foundational layer for coordination. He highlighted the progress in open-source large language models (LLMs) and the emergence of open-source agentic workers as "the most exciting toys for builders and creators since early Ethereum." In this evolving landscape, Ethereum is poised to become the underlying infrastructure for verification and financial transactions, with its cypherpunk ethos — prioritizing privacy and access to essential infrastructure — remaining intact.
Navigating the L1-L2 Relationship and Global Outreach
A significant focus during Tomasz’s tenure was clarifying the complex relationship between Ethereum’s Layer 1 (L1) and Layer 2 (L2) scaling solutions. This issue, a major discussion point and challenge, saw substantial progress through initiatives like Vitalik Buterin’s recent posts, which provided much-needed clarity on the observed situation. L2s, which extend or build on top of Ethereum with various security and decentralization trade-offs, are crucial for scalability. The EF’s Platform team convened over 20 Ethereum L2s at the Network School, fostering discussions on scaling, differentiation, and interoperability. This collaborative approach has led to clearer visions and more focused strategies for teams building based rollups, native rollups, and synchronous composability. The trend of major Ethereum rollups consistently surpassing alternative L1s in stablecoin and transactions per second (TPS) metrics is a strong indicator of this success.
Beyond technical advancements, the EF expanded its global footprint and community engagement. The organization’s Ecosystem Development (EcoDev) team, led by James Smith, focused on supporting founders, institutions, and governments building on Ethereum. A dedicated Global Policy Support team was established, and the foundation increasingly utilized AI for internal coordination. Communication efforts were bolstered through platforms like ethereum.org and forkcast.org, providing clearer roadmaps, use cases, and applications.
Global initiatives like "Ethereum Everywhere" supported hubs in major cities such as San Francisco, Lagos, London, Berlin, and Hong Kong, fostering local communities. The Academic Secretariat team planned numerous university events, and the concept of "pop-up cities" gained momentum, facilitating networking and building among new and long-term thought leaders worldwide. The upcoming Devcon Mumbai in 2026 is a significant milestone, acknowledging the vibrant Indian community’s contributions to Ethereum.
Crucially, while becoming more open to applications and institutional engagement, the EF remained steadfastly centered on its cypherpunk values. Groups like Vitalik’s Silviculture Society advised senior leaders on emerging risks, guarding against potential missteps. Efforts by teams like PSE and Kohaku concentrated on applied privacy, while the Protocol team intensified its focus on security and censorship resistance through initiatives like FOCIL and the "Trillion Dollar Security program."
A New Chapter for Leadership and Continued Vision
With Tomasz’s departure, the Ethereum Foundation’s leadership structure will see Hsiao-Wei continue her role as co-Executive Director, now joined by Bastian Aue in an expanded leadership capacity. Bastian Aue, already a vital contributor to policy support and long-term strategic work alongside Tju Liang, is expected to bring his extensive experience and emotional intelligence to the co-ED position.
The leadership team supporting this transition is robust and highly skilled. James Smith, responsible for the EcoDev transformation, will continue his mission to support builders, founders, and institutions. Josh Stark is recognized for his exceptional talent in executing operational changes rapidly and spearheading major communication shifts on social media in 2025. The Protocol cluster’s engineers and researchers are working more closely than ever, confidently setting future roadmaps and tackling the most formidable technological challenges. The EF, as described by Tomasz, is an organization where "things move fast, and changes can happen within days or weeks," a testament to its agile and intelligent leadership.
In the immediate future, the EF’s DeFi coordination team is slated to publish a blog post outlining their plans and roadmap, further demonstrating the foundation’s commitment to supporting this critical segment of the ecosystem. The anticipated release of a proposal for a merged LEAN Ethereum and core development roadmap is also expected to provide clear guidance and a framework for coordination for 2026 and beyond.
Tomasz’s Future: A Return to Building and Agentic Innovation
As Tomasz steps down from his executive role, he is not departing the Ethereum ecosystem but rather shifting his focus. He plans to remain accessible to EF leadership for advice and will continue to exert pressure on the ecosystem to maintain its pace of innovation. His future endeavors will involve acting more as a core developer and a hands-on product builder, with a particular emphasis on agentic core development and agentic governance.
He draws parallels between his current excitement and the feeling he had when founding Nethermind in 2017, when he strongly believed Ethereum would revolutionize financial systems. Today, he holds a similar conviction regarding the transformative power of agentic systems and AI-assisted discovery, acknowledging the potential for "playful experimentation" that characterized early Ethereum innovation. Tomasz intends to continue working directly with founders in frontier technology and Ethereum, supporting the realization of the visions he has passionately articulated over the years. His continued presence and direct involvement as a builder and thought leader are expected to further energize the ecosystem.
Broader Implications for Ethereum and the Blockchain Industry
The leadership transition at the Ethereum Foundation signals a mature and adaptable organization, capable of evolving while maintaining its core mission. It underscores a strategic move to infuse new leadership perspectives while retaining experienced hands, ensuring stability and dynamism. This continuity, combined with a clear focus on institutional adoption, AI integration, and ongoing scalability solutions, reinforces Ethereum’s position as a leading force in the global digital economy.
The EF’s commitment to cypherpunk values amidst growing institutional interest demonstrates a nuanced approach to blockchain development, balancing mainstream appeal with foundational principles of decentralization, privacy, and security. As the world witnesses accelerated integration of AI into various sectors, Ethereum’s proactive stance in developing infrastructure for agentic economies positions it at the forefront of this technological convergence.
This transition is not merely a change in personnel but a reaffirmation of the EF’s robust internal processes, its ability to cultivate talent, and its strategic foresight in navigating the complex and rapidly evolving landscape of blockchain technology. The Ethereum community, and indeed the broader tech world, will be watching closely as Bastian Aue and Hsiao-Wei steer the foundation through this exciting new phase, building upon the strong foundations laid by Tomasz and the dedicated teams at the EF.
A Heartfelt Farewell and Thank You
Tomasz concluded his announcement with heartfelt gratitude, acknowledging the immense support he received throughout his tenure. He extended his thanks to the EF board for their bold decision to bring him on, to Hsiao-Wei and the management team for their collaborative spirit, and specifically to Bastian Aue, Josh Stark, and Tju Liang for their emotional intelligence and guidance through challenging discussions. He also thanked Joe Schweitzer for amplifying the EF’s message through countless podcasts and the hundreds of Ethereum leaders who provided invaluable feedback and insights in early 2025, shaping the foundation’s strategy. Ultimately, his deepest appreciation went to every individual at the EF for their unwavering dedication and talent in executing on their shared beliefs. His departure marks the end of a successful chapter, but for Tomasz and the Ethereum ecosystem, it signals a renewed focus on building the future.
