ZUG, Switzerland – [Date of Publication] – The Ethereum Foundation (EF), a pivotal organization supporting the development and growth of the Ethereum ecosystem, has announced a significant leadership transition. Tomasz, who has served as Co-Executive Director, will step down from his role at the end of February 2026. Taking over his mantle will be Bastian Aue, who will assume the Co-Executive Director position alongside current Co-ED Hsiao-Wei. The change signals a strategic evolution for the Foundation, poised to further solidify Ethereum’s position as a foundational layer for emerging global technologies.
In his comprehensive announcement, Tomasz expressed profound optimism for the future of Ethereum, the ongoing trajectory of the Foundation, and his own forthcoming endeavors, which will pivot towards hands-on product building in the realm of agentic core development and AI. This leadership shift comes at a critical juncture, as Ethereum continues its rapid expansion into institutional finance and increasingly integrates with cutting-edge advancements in artificial intelligence and robotics.
A Pivotal Leadership Transition at the Ethereum Foundation
The departure of Tomasz marks a notable moment for the Ethereum Foundation. His tenure as Co-Executive Director has been characterized by a drive for rapid change, strategic clarity, and an unwavering commitment to empowering talent within the EF and the broader Ethereum community. His reflections underscore a period of intense activity and significant achievements, positioning the Foundation for continued success under new leadership.
Passing the Baton: Tomasz’s Departure and Succession
Tomasz’s decision to transition from his executive role by February 2026 is presented not as a withdrawal, but as a deliberate step to allow for fresh perspectives and to pursue new avenues of contribution within the vibrant Ethereum landscape. He conveyed a strong sense of satisfaction with the current state of the EF, emphasizing that the organization is robust, resilient, and led by exceptionally intelligent individuals. "While my ability to execute independently at the EF diminishes over time, my time at the organization in 2026 would feel more and more like just staying around to pass the baton," Tomasz stated, highlighting the Foundation’s maturity and its readiness for this evolution.
The incoming Co-Executive Director, Bastian Aue, is set to join Hsiao-Wei, ensuring continuity and a renewed focus on the Foundation’s strategic objectives. Aue’s expanded leadership role is anticipated to build upon the momentum generated during Tomasz’s tenure, further strengthening the EF’s capacity to guide and support the Ethereum protocol and its vast ecosystem. This carefully planned succession aims to ensure a seamless transition, allowing the Foundation to maintain its accelerated pace of innovation and development.
A Legacy of Accelerated Progress
During his time, Tomasz played a crucial role in implementing substantial operational and strategic changes across the Ethereum Foundation. He articulated a clear vision for the Co-ED role as one that is "impactful and desirable," enabling leaders to make "a meaningful difference by empowering people of extraordinary talent and dedication." Among the key achievements highlighted were:
- Accelerated Decision-Making: Streamlining processes to enhance the Foundation’s agility.
- Enhanced Communication: Fostering more open dialogue through social media and podcasts, engaging younger generations, and bringing new excitement to the builder community.
- Institutional Openness: Proactively engaging with institutions and supporting founders within the ecosystem.
- Strengthened Governance: Implementing new treasury and compensation policies, alongside efforts to increase internal and external transparency regarding budgets and organizational structure.
- Community and Hub Development: Reinforcing local hubs and communities globally, expanding the reach of Ethereum Everywhere initiatives in cities like San Francisco, Lagos, London, Berlin, and Hong Kong.
- Clarified L1-L2 Relationship: Initiating vital discussions and providing greater clarity on the symbiotic relationship between Ethereum’s Layer 1 and various Layer 2 scaling solutions.
These initiatives reflect a concerted effort to evolve the EF into a more dynamic, transparent, and responsive entity, capable of balancing long-term goals with the immediate need for adaptive change. Tomasz noted with pride that "People who delivered these changes continue working on Ethereum," underscoring the enduring impact of these transformations.
Ethereum’s Ascendant Trajectory: Infrastructure for the Future
Tomasz’s announcement was not merely about a change in leadership but also served as a profound testament to his unwavering conviction in Ethereum’s future. He painted a vivid picture of a network rapidly transitioning from a nascent technology to an indispensable global infrastructure, particularly in finance and emerging fields like AI and robotics.
Institutional Embrace and Financial Evolution
The year 2025 marked a watershed moment for Ethereum, as it "emerged as the clear institutional preference." This ascendancy is supported by tangible metrics, with dashboards revealing Ethereum’s growing market share in stablecoins and Real-World Asset (RWA) activity. The network’s inherent characteristics – credible neutrality, decentralization, and an unparalleled record of zero downtime since its genesis – have positioned it as the "lowest-risk chain" for institutions seeking robust and reliable digital infrastructure.
This institutional adoption is not merely a trend but a fundamental shift in global financial infrastructure. Tomasz foresees Ethereum becoming a cornerstone in major financial centers worldwide, a vision underscored by the upcoming major institutional Ethereum conference slated for New York later this year. The integration of advanced AI with global financial systems further amplifies the excitement for building on Ethereum, making it an unprecedented time for developers and innovators.
The Convergence of AI, Robotics, and Decentralization
Beyond traditional finance, Tomasz envisions Ethereum as the "natural infrastructure layer for coordination" of a new wave of interconnected technologies. He predicts a near future where robots engage in automated, agentic interactions, new forms of governance emerge, and AI-powered solutions transform healthcare and education—all underpinned by Ethereum. This foresight aligns with the growing momentum around open-source Large Language Models (LLMs) and agentic workers, which are becoming "the most exciting toys for builders and creators since early Ethereum."
This convergence of technologies presents both immense opportunities and complex challenges, particularly concerning privacy and security. Tomasz emphasized that "the cypherpunk ethos of Ethereum remains intact," with dedicated privacy builders and security experts diligently working to ensure the network helps users preserve privacy and maintain access to essential infrastructure. This commitment is crucial as Ethereum assumes its role as the underlying infrastructure for verification and financial transactions in a rapidly changing world.
Upholding Cypherpunk Ideals Amidst Growth
Despite its increasing mainstream and institutional adoption, the Ethereum ecosystem, guided by the EF, remains steadfast in its foundational cypherpunk values. Groups such as Vitalik Buterin’s Silviculture Society actively advise senior leaders on emerging risks and caution against deviations from core principles. Vitalik’s own series of tweets in early 2026 further underscored the fundamental importance of these values to the EF’s existence.
Practical applications of this ethos are evident in initiatives like the work of PSE and Kohaku, which are now intensely focused on "applied privacy." Simultaneously, the Protocol team has intensified its efforts on security and censorship resistance through programs like FOCIL and the "Trillion Dollar Security" initiative, ensuring Ethereum remains robust against sophisticated threats and maintains its commitment to decentralization.
The Ethereum Foundation’s Strategic Evolution and Future Roadmap
Under Tomasz’s co-leadership, the Ethereum Foundation has undergone a significant transformation, evolving into a more agile, transparent, and globally engaged organization. His departing remarks detail a Foundation that is not only robust but also exceptionally well-prepared for the challenges and opportunities ahead.
Operational Excellence and Community Engagement
The EF’s operational advancements during this period have been extensive. Key improvements include:
- Clearer Roadmap and Goals: Establishing a more defined strategic direction for 2026 and beyond.
- Empowered Leadership: Cultivating a culture where leaders within the EF are more confident in their decision-making and ownership.
- Enhanced Communication: Leveraging social media, podcasts, and platforms like ethereum.org and forkcast.org for clearer communication on roadmaps, use cases, and applications.
- Global Community Support: Strengthening local hubs and communities through "Ethereum Everywhere" efforts and planning numerous university events via the Academic Secretariat team.
- Automation and Efficiency: Increasing the use of AI for internal coordination, further streamlining operational efforts.
These efforts collectively aim to maintain the community’s excitement, especially as agentic AI and Ethereum increasingly become intertwined as the go-to trust infrastructure.
Pioneering Technical Frontiers: Quantum and AI
The Foundation is actively addressing future technological challenges and opportunities:
- LEAN Ethereum Roadmap: A proposal for a merged LEAN Ethereum and core development roadmap is imminent, providing "clear guidance and a setup for coordination in 2026 and beyond." This initiative, driven by the EF Protocol team, will outline the long-term path for the Ethereum protocol.
- Quantum Strategy: A "very clear quantum strategy" is in place, with top quantum security researchers finalizing specifications and engineers working on implementations. Post-quantum security has been firmly integrated into the EF Protocol roadmap, demonstrating a proactive approach to future threats.
- Decentralized AI Team: A dedicated team is focused on delivering standards, experiments, and solutions for the burgeoning agentic economy, evidenced by projects like 8004.org and clawdbotatg.eth.link. This team is at the forefront of exploring how Ethereum can serve as the backbone for intelligent, autonomous agents.
These initiatives underscore the EF’s commitment to not only maintaining the current network but also to future-proofing it against emerging technological shifts and security challenges.
Clarifying the Layer 1 – Layer 2 Symbiosis
One of the most significant challenges and discussion points over the past year has revolved around the relationship between Ethereum’s Layer 1 (L1) and its various Layer 2 (L2) scaling solutions. Vitalik Buterin’s recent posts have been instrumental in providing much-needed clarity on this complex landscape. L2s are recognized as extensions of Ethereum, building on its foundation with diverse security and decentralization trade-offs, allowing them to optimize for scaling, user experience, historical state availability, and privacy.
The EF has actively facilitated this dialogue through its Platform team, which brought over 20 Ethereum L2s together at the Network School to discuss the future of scaling, differentiation, and interoperability. This collaborative approach has empowered teams building based rollups, native rollups, and synchronous composability with clearer visions and a more focused approach. The growing dominance of major Ethereum rollups, consistently surpassing alternative L1s in stablecoin and Transactions Per Second (TPS) metrics, is a trend Tomasz is confident will continue, further validating Ethereum’s modular scaling strategy.
Global Reach and Ecosystem Empowerment
The EF’s ecosystem development (EcoDev) team, led by James Smith, is intensely focused on ensuring the success of founders, institutions, and governments building on Ethereum. Complementing this, a dedicated Global Policy Support team, under Bastian Aue and Tju Liang, navigates the complex regulatory landscape, fostering an environment conducive to innovation. The upcoming Devcon Mumbai in 2026 is a testament to the EF’s commitment to global community building, bringing blockchain thought leaders and founders to India, a community long deserving of such an event. This global expansion, coupled with efforts to engage new generations of builders through fresh voices and media initiatives, ensures the continued vibrancy and growth of the Ethereum ecosystem.
A New Chapter for Tomasz: Building at the Frontier
As Tomasz transitions out of his executive role, he is not stepping away from Ethereum but rather shifting his focus to a more hands-on, builder-centric approach. His future plans reflect a return to the innovative spirit that defined his early career in the crypto space.
From Co-ED to Hands-On Innovator
Tomasz intends to act "more as a core dev, a hands-on product builder," with a particular emphasis on "agentic core development and agentic governance." This shift harks back to his foundational days when he started Nethermind in 2017, a period marked by a strong conviction in Ethereum’s transformative potential for financial systems. He likens his current excitement for agentic systems and AI-assisted discovery to that earlier epoch, recognizing the profound reshaping of the world by these technologies.
While acknowledging the "impermanence or even uselessness of some of the agentic ideas," Tomasz embraces the spirit of "playful experimentation that defined much of the early Ethereum innovation." This perspective suggests a commitment to exploring the bleeding edge of technology, even if it involves navigating nascent and unproven concepts. His DMs will remain open for those seeking support in connecting with EF personnel or discussing Ethereum’s vision, indicating his ongoing availability as a resource and mentor.
Rekindling the Builder’s Spirit
His renewed focus will involve direct engagement with founders in frontier tech and Ethereum, supporting them in realizing the vision he has championed for years. This commitment to fostering innovation and bringing new ideas to fruition underscores his belief that this is "one of the most exciting times to be a builder on Ethereum." Tomasz plans to continue traveling and working with local communities, further helping businesses leverage Ethereum’s capabilities. His dedication to pushing the Ethereum ecosystem to "move at pace" suggests that even outside the Co-ED role, his influence will continue to be felt as a catalyst for progress.
Expressions of Gratitude and Collective Vision
Tomasz concluded his announcement with heartfelt gratitude, acknowledging the vast network of individuals who have contributed to his journey and the success of Ethereum and the Foundation.
Acknowledging a Supportive Ecosystem
His thanks extended to the EF board for their "bold step" in bringing him on, and to Hsiao-Wei and the management team for their collaborative efforts. Specific appreciation was directed towards Bastian Aue, Josh Stark, and Tju Liang for their "emotional intelligence" and facilitation of "thoughtful discussions." Joe Schweitzer was also commended for his role in amplifying the EF’s message through podcasts.
Crucially, Tomasz expressed immense gratitude to the "hundreds of Ethereum leaders" who reached out in early 2025, providing invaluable insights and shaping the EF’s strategy. "I would never have found the right paths without you," he admitted, highlighting the collaborative and community-driven nature of Ethereum’s development. Finally, he thanked "every single person at the EF for executing on your beliefs and talents," recognizing the collective effort behind the Foundation’s achievements.
The Future Leadership: Continuity and Innovation
With Hsiao-Wei continuing in her role and Bastian Aue stepping up, the EF is positioned for a dynamic future. Tomasz expressed full confidence in their leadership, noting that "Whatever direction they take, they will have the support of the best talent in crypto." He also lauded the contributions of key individuals who will continue to drive the Foundation’s mission: James Smith for the EcoDev transformation, Bastian Aue and Tju Liang for policy support, and Josh Stark for operational and communication changes. The close collaboration between engineers and researchers in the Protocol cluster further assures that "the EF is the place where things move fast, and changes can happen within days or weeks."
Conclusion
The impending departure of Tomasz as Co-Executive Director of the Ethereum Foundation marks a significant, yet optimistic, transition. His tenure has been instrumental in shaping the EF into a more efficient, transparent, and forward-thinking organization, deeply embedded in the global blockchain ecosystem. With Bastian Aue stepping into the Co-ED role alongside Hsiao-Wei, the Foundation is set to maintain its strategic momentum, continuing to foster innovation and uphold Ethereum’s core values.
Tomasz’s move to a more hands-on builder role in agentic core development and AI underscores the dynamic and evolving nature of the Ethereum space. It highlights a future where Ethereum is not just a financial ledger but the essential coordination layer for a new era of intelligent, decentralized technologies. As the ecosystem looks towards Devcon Mumbai and further institutional integration, the prevailing sentiment is one of excitement and unwavering conviction in Ethereum’s capacity to drive profound global change. The future, as Tomasz eloquently put it, truly "is bright for builders, for Ethereum, for the EF, and for me."
