ZUG, SWITZERLAND – [Date of Publication] – A significant leadership transition is underway at the Ethereum Foundation (EF), the non-profit organization supporting the development of the Ethereum blockchain. Tomasz, the current Co-Executive Director, has announced his decision to step down from his role at the end of February 2026. Bastian Aue, a seasoned leader within the Foundation, is set to assume an expanded leadership position alongside current Co-Executive Director Hsiao-Wei, ushering in a new chapter for the organization and the broader Ethereum ecosystem.
Tomasz’s departure, while marking the end of an impactful tenure, is framed by an optimistic outlook for the future of Ethereum, its vibrant community of builders, the Ethereum Foundation itself, and his own forthcoming endeavors. In a detailed statement, Tomasz reflected on his achievements, the robust health of the EF, and his vision for Ethereum’s continued evolution, particularly at the intersection of blockchain and artificial intelligence.
"The future is bright for builders, for Ethereum, for the EF, and for me," Tomasz asserted, underscoring a deep-seated conviction in the ecosystem’s trajectory. This leadership change signals a carefully planned evolution rather than an abrupt shift, with a clear succession plan and a strong leadership team in place to guide the Foundation through its next phase of growth and innovation.
A Tenure of Transformation: Shaping the Ethereum Foundation
Tomasz’s time as Co-Executive Director has been characterized by a focused drive to enhance the Ethereum Foundation’s operational efficiency, strategic clarity, and outreach. Over the past year, he emphasized the co-ED role as a powerful platform to empower exceptional talent both within the EF and across the wider Ethereum community. His efforts aimed to solidify the Foundation’s position as a pivotal enabler of innovation, rather than a centralized authority.
Under his leadership, the EF embarked on an ambitious agenda of internal transformation, delivering changes with remarkable speed. Key achievements during this period include:
- Accelerating Decision-Making: Streamlining internal processes to ensure agility and responsiveness in a rapidly evolving technological landscape. This fostered a culture where leaders felt more confident in making autonomous decisions, reducing bottlenecks and enhancing overall productivity.
- Engaging Younger Generations and Builders: Renewing focus on attracting and exciting new talent into the Ethereum ecosystem. This involved more open communication channels, leveraging social media and podcasts to reach a broader, younger audience, and fostering a sense of community among creators.
- Enhanced Institutional Openness: Proactively engaging with institutional players, establishing Ethereum as a credible and low-risk infrastructure for traditional finance. This shift involved clear communication around security, decentralization, and regulatory considerations.
- Supporting Founders and Ecosystem Growth: Implementing new initiatives to support entrepreneurs building on Ethereum, including strategic guidance and resource allocation.
- Strengthening Local Hubs and Communities: Expanding the "Ethereum Everywhere" initiative to bolster global presence, supporting hubs in key cities like San Francisco, Lagos, London, Berlin, and Hong Kong, and fostering grassroots development.
- Improving Transparency: Introducing new policies around treasury management, compensation, and internal/external reporting of budgets and organizational structure, fostering greater trust and accountability.
- Clarifying L1-L2 Relationship: Addressing one of the most significant architectural discussions in the ecosystem by facilitating discussions and providing clearer guidance on the relationship between the Ethereum mainnet (L1) and its scaling solutions (L2s).
Tomasz highlighted the positive impact of these initiatives, noting that the EF now possesses "great talent that learns quickly and has a great direction for 2026." He described his co-ED position as "extremely rewarding, strategically challenging, and [bringing] a lot of joy and inspiration," crediting the tremendous support received from the community. His decision to step down is not a reflection of dissatisfaction but rather a recognition that many of his strategic objectives have been met, and the organization is now well-equipped for its next phase. "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," he explained, indicating a natural progression and a healthy state of organizational readiness for transition.
The Unfolding Future of Ethereum: A Global Infrastructure
Tomasz’s vision for Ethereum extends far beyond its current applications, painting a picture of a foundational layer for a future driven by AI and advanced automation. He emphasized that despite market fluctuations and the emergence of competing ideas, "The conviction about Ethereum that comes from a deep understanding of its technology, its governance, its meaning for the future, and the values we share will always make us converge intermittently." This deep-seated belief in Ethereum’s core principles underpins its enduring strength and appeal.
A central theme of his forward-looking perspective is the ongoing transition of global financial infrastructure onto Ethereum. This is evidenced by the burgeoning growth of Decentralized Finance (DeFi), the increasing adoption of stablecoins on the network, and the significant rise in Real World Asset (RWA) tokenization. In 2025, Ethereum cemented its position as "the clear institutional preference," viewed as the "lowest-risk chain" due to its credible neutrality, robust decentralization, and an unparalleled track record of zero downtime since its genesis. These attributes provide institutions with an infrastructure that uniquely mitigates counterparty, technology, and jurisdiction risks, making it an attractive choice for large-scale financial operations. The upcoming major institutional Ethereum conference in New York City in 2026 further underscores this growing mainstream acceptance.
Beyond finance, Tomasz foresees Ethereum as the crucial coordination layer for an increasingly automated and agentic world. He envisions a future where "robots, new forms of governance, and AI healthcare and education" leverage Ethereum for secure, verifiable, and transparent interactions. The rapid advancements in open-source Large Language Models (LLMs) and the emergence of "open-source agentic workers" are creating exciting new possibilities for builders and creators, reminiscent of Ethereum’s early days. In this paradigm, Ethereum’s role as an underlying infrastructure for verification and financial transactions becomes indispensable, ensuring that the integrity and privacy of these complex interactions are maintained.
Crucially, Tomasz stressed that amidst these technological shifts, Ethereum’s foundational "cypherpunk ethos remains intact." Privacy builders and security experts are diligently working to ensure the network empowers individuals to preserve their privacy and access essential infrastructure without censorship or undue control. Initiatives like Vitalik Buterin’s Silviculture Society and the work of groups like PSE and Kohaku, focusing on applied privacy, demonstrate a continued commitment to these core values, advising senior leaders and warning against potential missteps that could compromise decentralization or privacy. The Protocol team’s dedication to security and censorship resistance, exemplified by projects like FOCIL and the Trillion Dollar Security program, further reinforces this commitment.
The Ethereum Foundation’s Strategic Blueprint for 2026 and Beyond
The EF, under its new leadership, is poised to continue its proactive role in guiding Ethereum’s development and fostering its ecosystem. A major announcement expected soon is a proposal for a "merged LEAN Ethereum" and core development roadmap. This blueprint, developed by the EF Protocol team, aims to provide clear guidance and a robust framework for coordination for the Ethereum protocol in 2026 and beyond, ensuring that essential improvements continue to be shipped on time, building on the success of two network upgrades delivered in 2025.
Strategic initiatives already in motion or planned for the near future include:
- Quantum Security: A "very clear quantum strategy" is in place, with leading quantum security researchers finalizing specifications and top engineers working on implementations. This proactive approach ensures Ethereum’s resilience against the future threat of quantum computing, which could potentially compromise current cryptographic standards. Post-quantum security has a defined place in the EF Protocol roadmap, reflecting a commitment to long-term network integrity.
- Decentralized AI: A dedicated "decentralized AI team" is actively developing standards, conducting experiments, and providing solutions for the emerging "agentic economy." This team is at the forefront of exploring how AI agents can interact securely and autonomously on a decentralized infrastructure, paving the way for new forms of automation and collaboration.
- Ecosystem Development (EcoDev): The EcoDev team remains focused on the success of founders, institutions, and governments building on Ethereum. This involves providing resources, guidance, and connections to foster a thriving ecosystem of applications and services.
- Global Policy Support: A dedicated Global Policy Support team is actively engaging with policymakers worldwide, ensuring that Ethereum’s innovations are understood and supported within regulatory frameworks, promoting responsible adoption.
- AI for Coordination: Internally, the EF is increasingly leveraging AI to automate and optimize its coordination efforts, enhancing efficiency and enabling faster responses to ecosystem needs.
- Enhanced Communication: Teams at ethereum.org and forkcast.org are doing "fantastic work" in communicating roadmaps, use cases, and applications, making complex information accessible to a wider audience and showcasing the network’s ongoing evolution.
A critical area of focus for the past year, and moving forward, has been the relationship between Ethereum’s Layer 1 (L1) and its Layer 2 (L2) scaling solutions. Tomasz noted Vitalik Buterin’s recent posts have provided much-needed clarity on this evolving dynamic. L2s are recognized as extensions of Ethereum, offering various security and decentralization trade-offs to enhance user experience across parameters like scaling, historical state availability, and privacy. The EF’s Platform team recently convened over 20 Ethereum L2s at the "Network School" to discuss the future of scaling, differentiation, and interoperability. This collaborative approach has resulted in clearer visions and more focused strategies for teams building based rollups, native rollups, and synchronous composability. This coordinated effort is already yielding results, with major Ethereum rollups consistently surpassing alternative L1s in stablecoin and transaction per second (TPS) metrics—a trend Tomasz is confident will continue.
The global reach of Ethereum is also set to expand further with Devcon Mumbai in 2026. Tomasz expressed immense pride in the team’s decision to bring this premier blockchain thought leadership event to India, a community he believes has deserved it for years. This event will serve as a crucial platform for collaboration and innovation, bringing together builders and founders from around the world.
Furthermore, the EF is intensifying its efforts to engage the next generation of builders. New voices within the Foundation and talented individuals working behind the scenes with founders and media are injecting fresh energy, ensuring the community remains excited, particularly with the convergence of agentic AI and Ethereum as its trusted infrastructure. The "Ethereum Everywhere" initiative continues to thrive, supporting local hubs and facilitating university events, pop-up cities, and global gatherings where new builders and established thought leaders connect and innovate.
In the coming weeks, the EF’s DeFi coordination team is also slated to publish a blog post outlining their plans and roadmap, signaling a renewed commitment to supporting the crucial decentralized finance ecosystem.
Leadership Continuity and a Robust Team
The transition at the top is carefully managed, ensuring continuity and stability. Hsiao-Wei will continue in her role as Co-Executive Director, providing consistent leadership and strategic direction. Bastian Aue will take on an expanded leadership role alongside her, bringing his extensive experience to the fore. Tomasz expressed confidence in their ability to lead, stating they will have "the support of the best talent in crypto."
The Foundation’s strength lies in its diverse and dedicated team. Key individuals mentioned for their ongoing contributions include:
- James Smith: Instrumental in the entire EcoDev transformation, focusing on builders, founders, and the institutional side of the ecosystem.
- Bastian Aue and Tju Liang: Guiding policy support and long-term strategic work with their leadership.
- Josh Stark: Recognized for his exceptional talent in executing operational changes swiftly and leading major communication shifts on social media in 2025.
- Protocol Cluster Engineers and Researchers: Working in close collaboration, confidently setting roadmaps and tackling the most formidable technological challenges.
Tomasz’s parting words on the EF were unequivocal: "The EF is in a healthy state of an organization that can balance long-term goals and the need for change. The EF is unique, far from boring, very resilient, and led by highly intelligent people."
Tomasz’s Next Chapter: Architecting the Agentic Future
As he transitions out of his formal leadership role at the EF, Tomasz is embarking on a new chapter focused on hands-on building and strategic guidance within the frontier tech space. He intends to remain deeply connected to the Ethereum ecosystem, keeping his "DMs open for all of you who need support in connecting with people at the EF or discussing the vision and strategy of Ethereum." He will also remain available to the EF leadership for advice, though he humorously noted he has often received valuable advice from them in the past. A driving force behind his future endeavors will be his commitment to "always put pressure on the Ethereum ecosystem to move at pace."
His immediate plans include continued travel and collaboration with local communities, assisting businesses in building on Ethereum. More significantly, Tomasz plans to revert to a role akin to a "core dev, a hands-on product builder," with a particular focus on "agentic core development and agentic governance." This signals a deep dive into the practical application of AI and autonomous agents within decentralized systems, an area he believes holds immense transformative potential.
Tomasz drew a compelling parallel between his current excitement and the feeling he experienced when he founded Nethermind in 2017. At that time, he strongly believed "a big change was happening," envisioning Ethereum’s potential to revolutionize financial systems. His background in the financial industry informed his desire for an "evolution rather than a revolution" in this transition. Today, he feels a similar conviction about the profound impact of "agentic systems and AI-assisted discovery" in reshaping the world. While acknowledging the potential for "impermanence or even uselessness of some of the agentic ideas," he embraces the "playful experimentation that defined much of the early Ethereum innovation," indicating a willingness to explore uncharted territory with an open mind.
Ultimately, Tomasz’s future path is dedicated to working directly with founders in frontier tech and Ethereum, supporting the realization of the bold vision he has championed for years. His departure from the EF leadership marks not an exit from the ecosystem, but a shift in focus, allowing him to contribute to the next wave of innovation with renewed energy and direct engagement. "It is one of the most exciting times to be a builder on Ethereum," he concluded, a sentiment that resonates with his continued passion for the platform and its boundless possibilities.
A Heartfelt Expression of Gratitude
Tomasz’s statement concluded with a profound expression of gratitude to the countless individuals who have supported him, the EF, and Ethereum throughout his tenure. Having visited over 20 countries and met thousands of builders, financiers, educators, policymakers, creators, researchers, and academics, he cherished the "words of support, tough questions, and critique" received from the community.
He extended his "wholehearted thank you" to the EF board for their bold decision to bring him on as Co-Executive Director alongside Hsiao-Wei. Special appreciation was given to Hsiao-Wei and the management team for their collaborative spirit and swift action. He specifically recognized Bastian Aue, Josh Stark, and Tju Liang for their "emotional intelligence and facilitating thoughtful discussions when facing the most difficult matters." Joe Schweitzer also received thanks for his invaluable assistance in reviewing podcasts and expanding the reach of discussions about Ethereum’s future.
A "huge thanks" was directed to the hundreds of Ethereum leaders who reached out in March and April 2025, sharing their insights and helping to shape the EF’s strategy. Finally, Tomasz expressed his deep gratitude to "every single person at the EF for executing on your beliefs and talents," acknowledging their collective efforts in driving the Foundation’s success.
As the Ethereum Foundation embarks on this new chapter, the transition signifies a mature and confident organization, ready to tackle the challenges and opportunities of an increasingly complex and interconnected digital world, with a strong leadership team at the helm and a clear vision for Ethereum’s role as a global, decentralized infrastructure.
