New Leadership Structure to Align Vision and Execution
The Ethereum Foundation has unveiled a major leadership restructuring, formally separating its board of directors from the management team. This move is intended to sharpen strategic direction and operational execution as the Ethereum ecosystem navigates technical scaling challenges and a volatile market. Announced in an April 28 blog post, the foundation said the board will now act as a “security council to protect the heart and soul” of Ethereum, defining vision and guiding long-term priorities. Meanwhile, the newly formed management team will execute on those goals.
Wang and Stańczak Appointed to Executive Roles
Hsiao-Wei Wang and Tomasz K. Stańczak were named co-executive directors as of March 2, and their roles officially began on April 28. They will drive Ethereum’s efforts to champion open-source innovation, censorship resistance, privacy, and security.
Stańczak — founder of Nethermind and a co-founder of a soon-to-be-launched Ethereum venture firm — has been given a two-year term to address some of Ethereum’s deepest structural issues. Wang, meanwhile, will serve as a bridge between the board and management, reflecting a new model of collaborative governance.
Expanded Management and Defined Board Roles
Alongside the executive directors, Bastian Aue and Josh Stark round out the management team. Aue will handle strategy, hiring, and training, while Stark is tasked with project execution, communication, and marketing.
The board includes Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, Foundation President Aya Miyaguchi, Swiss legal counsel Patrick Storchenegger, and Wang.
- Buterin will continue offering technical and intellectual leadership.
- Miyaguchi will oversee the foundation’s vision and external relationships.
- Storchenegger will focus on legal and compliance matters.
Interestingly, the board chose the two executive directors — a decision it acknowledged was “unconventional” — and retains the authority to terminate their roles.
Addressing Criticism and Refocusing on Scaling
This leadership refresh comes after criticism that the Ethereum Foundation had grown disconnected from Ethereum’s evolving DeFi and Layer 2 ecosystem.
Synthetix founder Kain Warwick previously claimed the foundation “doesn’t care” about decentralized finance innovation, while others pointed to Ethereum’s lagging price performance versus Bitcoin and Solana as evidence of a leadership vacuum.
In response, the foundation is committing to three core goals over the next 12 months:
- Scaling Layer 1 of Ethereum.
- Scaling blobs on Layer 2 rollups.
- Improving overall user experience.
New Proposals Aim to Boost Throughput
On the technical side, Ethereum Foundation researchers have proposed new Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) — including EIP-9678 and EIP-9698 — which aim to raise the gas limit, thereby increasing transaction throughput. These proposals signal that, beyond leadership, Ethereum is doubling down on solving scalability and efficiency bottlenecks.
