Layla Zulfa
Tomasz, co-Executive Director of the Ethereum Foundation (EF), has announced his departure from the pivotal leadership role at the end of February 2026. Bastian Aue, a long-standing and respected figure within the EF, is set to assume the co-ED position, working alongside current co-ED Hsiao-Wei. This leadership transition marks a significant moment for the Ethereum Foundation as it navigates a rapidly evolving technological and financial landscape, poised for continued growth and institutional integration.
A Period of Strategic Transition and Accomplishment
Tomasz, who joined the Ethereum Foundation as co-Executive Director in early 2025, has overseen a period of dynamic change and strategic realignment within the organization. His tenure, though relatively brief, has been characterized by a concerted effort to enhance the EF’s operational efficiency, strengthen its community engagement, and clarify its strategic direction amidst burgeoning global interest in Ethereum. In his announcement, Tomasz reflected on his time, stating, "The co-ED position was extremely rewarding, strategically challenging, and brought me a lot of joy and inspiration." He emphasized that the EF is currently in a "healthy state of an organization that can balance long-term goals and the need for change."
During his leadership, the EF implemented several key initiatives aimed at streamlining its internal processes and broadening its impact. These included accelerating decision-making workflows, fostering deeper engagement with younger generations of builders, and enhancing communication channels through social media and podcasts. Crucially, Tomasz championed greater openness towards institutional partners, supported emerging founders within the ecosystem, and introduced more robust treasury and compensation policies. Efforts to strengthen local hubs and communities globally, clarify the relationship between Ethereum’s Layer 1 (L1) and Layer 2 (L2) solutions, and increase internal and external transparency around budgets and organizational structure were also prioritized and, according to Tomasz, are either completed or consistently improving.
The EF’s operational transformation under Tomasz’s guidance has been lauded by internal teams, with James Smith leading the EcoDev transformation focusing on founders, institutions, and governments. Bastian Aue and Tju Liang have been instrumental in policy support, while Josh Stark has driven significant operational and communication changes, particularly across social media platforms in 2025. This collective effort has ensured that the organization remains agile and responsive to the needs of the global Ethereum community.
The Enduring Vision for Ethereum’s Future
The departing co-ED’s announcement was not merely a personal reflection but also a powerful reaffirmation of his profound conviction in Ethereum’s trajectory. Despite the inherent volatility of cryptocurrency markets and the constant emergence and occasional failure of competing ideas, Tomasz underscored the foundational strength derived from a deep understanding of Ethereum’s technology, governance, and its broader societal implications. He stated that this shared conviction ensures the community "converge intermittently, even when our curiosities drive our explorations very far from the canonical paths."
Tomasz has been a vocal proponent of Ethereum’s evolution into a foundational infrastructure layer for an array of advanced technologies. He highlighted the ongoing transition of traditional financial infrastructure onto Ethereum, predicting a future where automated, agentic interactions become commonplace. This vision extends to the emergence of "robots, new forms of governance, and AI healthcare and education," all of which he believes will rely on Ethereum for coordination and verification. The burgeoning field of open-source Large Language Models (LLMs) and agentic workers, he noted, represents a new frontier for builders and creators, reminiscent of Ethereum’s early innovative phase.
Crucially, Tomasz stressed the preservation of Ethereum’s cypherpunk ethos. He affirmed that dedicated privacy builders and security experts are actively working to ensure the network helps users maintain privacy and access to essential infrastructure, even as new paradigms around AI introduce complex security and privacy questions. This commitment is evident in initiatives like the work of PSE and Kohaku on applied privacy, and the Protocol team’s enhanced focus on security and censorship resistance through programs like FOCIL and the Trillion Dollar Security initiative.
Institutional Acceptance and Global Expansion
The year 2025, as observed by Tomasz, marked a significant turning point for Ethereum, solidifying its position as the "clear institutional preference." Data dashboards reportedly show Ethereum’s increasing market share in stablecoins and Real World Asset (RWA) activity, cementing its status as the "lowest-risk chain." This preference, he argued, stems from Ethereum’s unique attributes: credible neutrality, robust decentralization, and an unprecedented record of zero downtime since its genesis. These characteristics collectively present institutions with an infrastructure offering uniquely low counterparty, technology, and jurisdiction risk.
Looking ahead, the growing institutional interest is expected to culminate in major events, including an institutional Ethereum conference slated for New York in the coming year. This signifies a deepening integration of Ethereum into global financial centers, underscoring the platform’s maturation from a niche technology to a mainstream financial utility. The advancement of AI and its accelerating integration into global financial systems further amplifies the excitement for building on Ethereum, presenting unprecedented opportunities for innovation.
The Ethereum Foundation’s Evolving Mandate
With Tomasz’s departure, the EF is well-positioned for its next chapter, with Hsiao-Wei continuing as co-ED and Bastian Aue stepping into an expanded leadership role. The EF’s commitment to supporting the core protocol is evident in its plans to release a proposal for a merged LEAN Ethereum and core development roadmap in the coming weeks. This roadmap, crafted by the EF Protocol team, is intended to provide clear guidance and coordination for 2026 and beyond, building on the successful delivery of two network upgrades in 2025.
Technological foresight remains a cornerstone of the EF’s strategy. The organization boasts a clear "quantum strategy," with leading quantum security researchers finalizing specifications and top engineers working on implementations to ensure post-quantum security is integrated into the EF Protocol roadmap. Furthermore, a dedicated decentralized AI team is actively developing standards, conducting experiments, and devising solutions for the emerging agentic economy, as evidenced by projects like 8004.org and Clawdbot.
The EF’s global reach and community focus are also expanding. The "Ethereum Everywhere" initiative continues to support vibrant hubs in major cities such as San Francisco, Lagos, London, Berlin, and Hong Kong. The Academic Secretariat team is planning numerous university events, while the concept of "pop-up cities" gains momentum, fostering organized environments for new builders and long-term thought leaders to connect and collaborate worldwide. Devcon Mumbai in 2026 is highlighted as a particularly exciting event, bringing global blockchain thought leaders and founders to India, a community that has long deserved such a significant gathering.
A significant area of focus for the past year has been the complex L1-L2 relationship. Vitalik Buterin’s recent posts have aimed to provide clarity on the observed situation, emphasizing that L2s extend or build upon Ethereum with varying security and decentralization trade-offs. These L2s differentiate themselves by optimizing for scaling, decentralization, historical state availability, privacy, and user experience. To facilitate this crucial dialogue, the EF established a Platform team and convened over 20 Ethereum L2s at the "Network School" to discuss the future of scaling, differentiation, and interoperability. This focused approach is expected to yield clearer visions and more concentrated efforts from teams building based rollups, native rollups, and synchronous composability. The trend of major Ethereum rollups consistently surpassing alternative L1s in stablecoin and transaction per second (TPS) metrics is anticipated to continue, further solidifying Ethereum’s ecosystem dominance.
The EF also maintains its strong adherence to cypherpunk values. Groups like Vitalik’s Silviculture Society advise senior leaders on emerging risks and caution against potential missteps, ensuring that the foundational principles of decentralization and privacy remain paramount. The Protocol team’s dedication to security and censorship resistance, exemplified by initiatives like FOCIL and the Trillion Dollar Security program, underscores this commitment.
Leadership Continuity and Future Outlook
The transition plan emphasizes continuity and strong leadership. Hsiao-Wei will remain as co-ED, continuing her established path. Bastian Aue, who has previously demonstrated "great leadership" in policy support and long-term strategic work, will now take on an expanded executive role. Tomasz expressed immense confidence in their ability to lead, stating, "Whatever direction they take, they will have the support of the best talent in crypto." The existing strong leadership team, including James Smith, Tju Liang, and Josh Stark, will continue their vital contributions, ensuring that the EF remains a fast-moving and impactful organization. The DeFi coordination team at the EF is also set to publish its plans and roadmap, signaling further strategic development in this critical area.
Tomasz’s Next Chapter: A Return to Building
As for Tomasz’s personal future, he plans to remain deeply connected to the Ethereum ecosystem, offering support and advice to the EF leadership and continuing to exert pressure for accelerated progress. His immediate focus will shift towards a more hands-on role as a core developer and product builder, with a particular interest in agentic core development and agentic governance. He draws a parallel between his current excitement and the foundational period of starting Nethermind in 2017, when he strongly believed Ethereum would revolutionize financial systems. He now sees agentic systems and AI-assisted discovery as the next transformative wave, embracing the "playful experimentation" that characterized early Ethereum innovation.
Tomasz intends to continue traveling, collaborating with local communities, and assisting businesses in building on Ethereum. His commitment to working directly with founders in frontier tech and Ethereum underscores his desire to actively contribute to the realization of the vision he has championed. He concludes with an optimistic outlook, affirming, "It is one of the most exciting times to be a builder on Ethereum."
A Legacy of Gratitude and Collective Effort
In his farewell message, Tomasz extended heartfelt gratitude to the multitude of individuals who supported him, the EF, and Ethereum throughout 2025. He acknowledged the EF board for their "bold step" in bringing him on, and thanked Hsiao-Wei and the management team for their collaborative spirit. Special appreciation was given to Bastian Aue, Josh Stark, and Tju Liang for their "emotional intelligence" and facilitation of thoughtful discussions during challenging times, and to Joe Schweitzer for his work in expanding the reach of Ethereum discussions through podcasts.
Crucially, Tomasz thanked the "hundreds of Ethereum leaders" who reached out to him in March and April 2025, sharing insights and guiding the EF’s strategic direction. This collective feedback was instrumental in shaping the initiatives undertaken during his tenure. Finally, he expressed profound thanks to every single person at the EF for their dedication and execution of their beliefs and talents.
Tomasz’s departure marks the end of a significant chapter for the Ethereum Foundation, but it also heralds a new phase of leadership and continued innovation. The organization, fortified by its recent internal reforms and guided by a clear vision for Ethereum’s future, appears well-equipped to face the challenges and opportunities ahead, with Bastian Aue and Hsiao-Wei at the helm.
