Xiaowei Wang has stepped down as co-chief executive officer (CEO) of the Ethereum Foundation.

Cointelegraph reported on Wednesday that Wang said on X, formerly Twitter, that he had recently finished a sabbatical and was stepping down immediately. The resignation adds to a series of departures of key Ethereum Foundation personnel this year.

“Ethereum has always meant more than any role,” Wang said. He said he had not yet decided on his future plans.

Vitalik Buterin (비탈릭 부테린), Ethereum’s co-founder, said in a post responding to Wang that he had held one of the foundation’s toughest roles together with Tomasz Stanczak, who left earlier this year.

The Ethereum Foundation is estimated to have seen about 19 personnel departures this year, including layoffs and resignations. Departures of senior executives and core contributors are drawing attention. The foundation is also under pressure over Ethereum’s market performance amid debate over intensifying competition, governance and long-term development strategy.

Debate over the foundation’s role is also continuing. In May, Buterin drew a line against criticism that the foundation should promote the network more actively, saying the foundation is not the “center of Ethereum” but “a node with a fixed purpose”. The remarks reaffirmed an existing principle that the foundation is not a central organisation that controls the ecosystem.

That stance was also reflected in revised role rules the foundation issued in March. At the time, the foundation said it was reaffirming its role as a steward of the Ethereum ecosystem while placing greater weight on decentralisation. It said its ultimate goal is for Ethereum to pass tests so anyone can use it with confidence, adding that even if the foundation and today’s core developers disappear tomorrow, the protocol and the core application layer must continue to operate stably and develop.

The philosophy also aligns with Buterin’s recent shift in position on Ethereum Layer 2. Buterin recently said the initial vision for Layer 2 is no longer valid and noted that many projects have not achieved a meaningful level of decentralisation. He also said improvements to the Ethereum mainnet are increasingly seen as a better long-term scaling solution.

Market attention is now focused on whether the Ethereum Foundation will maintain its existing decentralisation principles despite a leadership vacuum, or move to adjustments in operations and strategy. With talent departures continuing, the next focus is how far the foundation will define its role and how it will set out Ethereum’s long-term development direction.

After my sabbatical, I have decided to step down as co-executive director and board member of the Ethereum Foundation (@ethereumfndn), effective today. That time gave me space to reflect on my priorities and the kind of life I want to build next. During my break, Bastian…