The Ethereum Foundation (EF) is entering a pivotal phase in its evolution, marked by leadership changes, strategic reorganization, and an accelerated roadmap aimed at securing Ethereum’s long-term dominance in the blockchain ecosystem. At the heart of this transformation are Hsiao-Wei Wang and Tomasz Stanczak, the newly appointed co-executive directors who are steering the foundation toward faster execution, improved communication, and deeper alignment with Ethereum’s core principles.
In a recent in-depth discussion, Wang and Stanczak outlined their vision for Ethereum’s next chapter—balancing rapid development with unwavering commitment to decentralization, censorship resistance, and open-source innovation.
Ethereum Foundation’s Core Vision: Values First
The EF’s foundational mission remains unchanged: to support Ethereum as a resilient, permissionless, and globally accessible platform. As articulated in the official blog post co-authored by EF President Aya Miyaguchi and Vitalik Buterin, the foundation exists not to control Ethereum but to steward its ecosystem—filling critical gaps in infrastructure, funding research, and coordinating major upgrades like The Merge.
Two primary goals define the EF’s purpose:
- Maximize meaningful Ethereum adoption – Ensuring that users benefit from Ethereum’s core values such as transparency, ownership, and censorship resistance. This includes empowering real use cases like DeFi, DAOs, decentralized social media, and verifiable AI applications—while rejecting superficial on-chain activity with no user benefit.
- Strengthen technical and social resilience – Building a robust network through diverse teams, independent projects, and proactive risk management. The goal is to reduce reliance on EF funding and avoid performative diversity that masks systemic weaknesses.
A New Leadership Model: Operational Agility Meets Principle-Driven Governance
The EF has restructured its leadership to better execute its vision. This new model separates strategic oversight from day-to-day operations:
- Board of Directors sets high-level direction and ensures alignment with Ethereum’s values.
- Management Team, led by Wang and Stanczak, drives implementation.
Key roles include:
- Hsiao-Wei Wang: Co-Executive Director with deep roots in core protocol research; instrumental in The Merge. She now focuses on preserving Ethereum’s philosophical integrity during rapid change.
- Tomasz Stanczak: Co-Executive Director and founder of Nethermind, one of Ethereum’s leading execution clients. He brings operational rigor and extensive community engagement—having conducted over 200 conversations with developers, founders, and users.
This dual-leadership approach balances principled decision-making with execution speed, addressing long-standing community concerns about slow progress and opaque communication.
The 2025–2026 Roadmap: Accelerating Ethereum’s Evolution
To translate vision into action, the EF has committed to a faster upgrade cycle—moving from 12–18 months between hard forks to a six-month cadence. Three key upgrades are planned:
🔹 Pectra (May 2025)
- Introduces staking enhancements
- Implements account abstraction via EIP-7702, simplifying wallet UX
- Improves developer tooling and node performance
🔹 Fusaka (September–October 2025)
- Focuses on scaling improvements
- Launches devnet immediately after Pectra for faster testing
- Enhances Layer 2 interoperability
🔹 Glamsterdam (June 2026)
- Delivers 3x to 10x Layer 1 throughput increase
- Integrates advanced zero-knowledge proof developments
- Includes protocol optimizations for long-term sustainability
These milestones support a bold performance target:
→ 3x faster by 2025
→ 10x faster by 2026
→ 100x improvement within four years
Operational Reforms Behind the Scenes
Achieving these ambitious targets requires internal transformation. The EF is implementing structural changes to boost efficiency:
- Empowering team leads: Over 40 technical leads now have greater autonomy in decision-making.
- Restructured developer calls: Shifted from theoretical discussions to product-focused sprints.
- Early builder inclusion: Application developers are invited into planning stages to ensure upgrades meet real-world needs.
These reforms reflect a shift from a top-down coordination model to a builder-centric ecosystem, where feedback loops are shorter and solutions are more practical.
Clarifying the EF’s Role in the Ecosystem
A recurring theme in the interview was clarifying what the Ethereum Foundation does and does not do:
✅ What EF Does:
- Coordinates core protocol research
- Funds grants via the Ecosystem Support Program
- Maintains Geth (one of Ethereum’s execution clients)
- Organizes developer events and cross-client collaboration
❌ What EF Does Not Do:
- Own or control Ethereum
- Develop consensus clients (e.g., Lighthouse, Teku)
- Engage in traditional marketing or business development
This clarity helps manage expectations and reinforces Ethereum’s decentralized nature—where the EF acts as a facilitator, not a gatekeeper.
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FAQ: Addressing Community Questions
Q: Why is the EF accelerating its upgrade schedule now?
A: Competitive pressure from other Layer 1 blockchains and growing demand for scalable, user-friendly dApps have created urgency. The six-month cadence allows faster iteration while maintaining security.
Q: How will account abstraction improve user experience?
A: With EIP-7702, users can interact with smart contract wallets seamlessly—enabling features like gasless transactions, social recovery, and multi-signature security without complex setup.
Q: Is Ethereum moving away from decentralization to achieve speed?
A: No. Both Wang and Stanczak emphasize that speed must never compromise core values. All upgrades undergo rigorous testing across multiple independent client teams to preserve decentralization.
Q: What happens if a hard fork fails or causes disruption?
A: Ethereum’s multi-client architecture minimizes single points of failure. Additionally, the EF uses staged rollouts and public testnets to catch issues early.
Q: How can developers get involved in upcoming upgrades?
A: Through GitHub repositories, All Core Dev calls, and EF grant programs. Early participation is encouraged to shape protocol improvements.
Building a Sustainable Future
The EF’s new strategy reflects a maturing ecosystem—one that values both innovation and stability. By combining Hsiao-Wei Wang’s deep understanding of Ethereum’s philosophical foundations with Tomasz Stanczak’s operational expertise, the foundation is positioning itself to lead Ethereum into a new era of growth.
Their approach—grounded in transparency, community input, and measurable outcomes—is designed to rebuild trust and reignite momentum. With clear scaling targets, structured timelines, and reforms that empower builders, Ethereum is no longer just evolving—it’s accelerating.
As the Pectra hard fork approaches, all eyes will be on how smoothly these changes integrate into the live network. But one thing is certain: under this new leadership, the Ethereum Foundation is acting with renewed purpose.
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