The Ethereum Foundation (ETF) has completed a months-long organisational overhaul and cut 54 people, about 20 percent of its workforce.

On June 24 local time, blockchain media outlet CoinPost reported that the foundation reorganised around five domain clusters and decided to focus its capabilities on strengthening the protocol and supporting the ecosystem.

The new system consists of five clusters — the protocol layer, access layer, user layer, community layer and institutional investor layer — plus an operations cluster and teams reporting directly to management. Each cluster has its own internal structure and performance metrics tailored to its remit. The foundation said the overhaul secured the system, activities and personnel needed to carry out immediate core tasks.

Many of those leaving the foundation are expected to continue contributing to the Ethereum ecosystem outside the foundation in the coming weeks. Severance pay was set at the higher of an amount calculated by multiplying years of service by monthly salary and local legal standards.

The core is to strengthen the protocol layer. This area is responsible for improving the performance of the Ethereum protocol and securing scalability. It also handles maintaining characteristics the foundation values, including censorship resistance, open source, privacy and security. Post-quantum security, zkEVM and Layer1 privacy research were also grouped under this area.

The access layer is based on users not relying on intermediaries that they cannot verify. It is responsible for building an environment that not only reads the chain but also allows transactions, proofs, delegation and exits. This area presented the "zero option" as a basic principle, meaning it always secures an intermediary-free alternative route for every path that goes through intermediaries.

The institutional investor layer supports Ethereum integration by financial institutions, companies, governments, universities and non-profit organisations. It also works with researchers and advocacy groups in each country to track and respond to policy and regulatory trends. This shows the foundation has established a separate axis within the organisation not only for technology development but also for links to the institutional sphere.

This announcement largely serves as an official full stop to changes that have continued over the past 18 months. Vitalik Buterin (비탈릭 부테린), an Ethereum co-founder, announced a major leadership reshuffle in January 2025 after receiving calls for renewal from Joseph Lubin (조셉 루빈) and others, and Xiaowei Wang (샤오웨이 왕) and Tomasz Stanczak (토마시 스탄차크) were appointed as co-executive directors. Stanczak stepped down in February 2026 and Wang also retired this month. Josh Stark (조시 스타크), protocol team members Tim Beiko (팀 베이코) and Barnabe Monnot (바르나베 모노), and researchers Karl Beek (칼 비크) and Julian Maudaux (줄리안 마도) also left the foundation in succession.

The Ethereum Foundation plans to disclose further details over the coming weeks to months on how each cluster will operate and how it will collaborate with the ecosystem. After the large-scale staff cuts, the next point to watch is how it will maintain connections with the external ecosystem while pursuing protocol development and institutional expansion within the new organisational system.