The Ethereum Foundation has cut roughly 20% of its staff, eliminating 54 positions as part of a months-long reorganization intended to sharpen its focus on long-term development priorities.
In a June 23 post on X, the foundation said the reductions complete a restructuring carried out under its Mandate and Treasury Management Policy. The organization said the move will leave a smaller team “focused on the most important responsibilities” only the Foundation can perform, and that the changes realign people, resources and operations with that mission.
Under the new framework, the Foundation reorganized into five core areas — protocol, access, user, community and institutional — while separate teams will continue to handle management and operations. The protocol group will remain responsible for Ethereum’s core technology, including decentralization, privacy, security and censorship resistance. Other divisions will concentrate on user experience, ecosystem participation, community engagement and institutional adoption.
The announcement arrives amid ongoing leadership and market shifts. Last week, Hsiao‑Wei Wang stepped down as co‑executive director and board member of the Foundation. The layoffs were disclosed during a period of broader crypto market weakness, with ETH trading near $1,650 following a market downturn that triggered liquidations across digital assets.
Despite the cuts, Ethereum development work is continuing. The Foundation highlighted major upgrades in the pipeline, including the Glamsterdam upgrade — which will bring changes such as Enshrined Proposer‑Builder Separation and Block‑Level Access Lists intended to increase transparency in block production and improve client data handling — alongside gas repricing, Layer‑1 scaling efforts, privacy improvements and security enhancements.
The Foundation said affected employees will receive severance packages, transition assistance and career support, and that additional grants will be available to cover career transition expenses. It emphasized the decision was driven by long‑term resource allocation rather than short‑term market movements, noting the need to be “resourced and organized in a way that allows us to focus on the critical work that only EF can, and therefore must, do in the coming years.”
The staff reduction follows a wider trend of downsizing across crypto organizations — for example, earlier this month the media outlet Bankless faced backlash after large, undisclosed layoffs. The Ethereum Foundation said it will publish further details about its new structure and plans in the coming weeks and months.
Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news
