New Executive Directors Appointed as Foundation Shifts Focus
The Ethereum Foundation has announced a major overhaul of its leadership structure, formally separating the roles of its board of directors and management team in a bid to strengthen the Ethereum ecosystem and respond to mounting community criticism.
In an April 28 blog post, the Foundation said the board will now function as a “security council,” charged with protecting Ethereum’s core values and setting long-term visions, while the new management team will handle strategic and operational execution.
“The board protects the heart and soul of the Foundation. Management executes the vision,” the Foundation explained.
7/ Ensuring Ethereum lives up to those values requires constant progress. Our objectives for the next 12 months are clear:
– Scaling Ethereum L1
– Scaling blobs
– Improving UX— Ethereum Foundation (@ethereumfndn) April 28, 2025
New Executive Leadership Announced
The Foundation appointed Hsiao-Wei Wang and Tomasz K. Stańczak as co-executive directors, effective April 28. Their task will be to deliver on Ethereum’s core principles: censorship resistance, open-source innovation, privacy, and security.
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Wang will act as a bridge between the board and management team.
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Stańczak — who is also the founder of Nethermind and an upcoming Ethereum-focused venture capital firm — will serve a two-year term aimed at tackling Ethereum’s major technical and organizational challenges.
Additional leadership roles include:
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Bastian Aue – Focused on organizational strategy, hiring, and training.
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Josh Stark – Responsible for project execution, communications, and marketing.
The Foundation emphasized that the board was responsible for selecting Wang and Stańczak — an unconventional move intended to prioritize mission alignment over traditional corporate governance structures.
Board Composition and Ongoing Roles
The Ethereum Foundation’s board now consists of:
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Vitalik Buterin (Ethereum co-founder)
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Aya Miyaguchi (Foundation President)
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Patrick Storchenegger (Swiss legal counsel)
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Hsiao-Wei Wang (also on the management team)
Each board member will continue playing a critical role:
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Buterin will provide technical and intellectual leadership.
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Miyaguchi will manage external relationships and oversee the Foundation’s long-term vision.
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Storchenegger will continue to oversee legal and compliance functions.
The board retains the power to appoint and remove executive directors as needed.
Responding to Community Criticism and Market Pressures
The Ethereum Foundation’s move comes amid criticism that it had become too passive, particularly in relation to decentralized finance (DeFi) innovation.
Synthetix founder Kain Warwick recently claimed the Foundation “doesn’t care” about DeFi development, while others in the Ethereum community have linked the Foundation’s perceived lack of leadership to Ether’s underperformance compared to Bitcoin (BTC) and Solana (SOL).
Ethereum’s price has lagged behind its peers, sparking calls for the Foundation to take a more proactive role in ecosystem growth and user experience improvement.
Foundation’s 12-Month Focus: Scaling and UX
Looking ahead, the Ethereum Foundation outlined three main priorities for the next year:
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Scaling Ethereum Layer 1
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Scaling data blobs at Layer 2
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Enhancing overall user experience
Researchers such as Dankrad Feist and Sophia Gold have already proposed scaling solutions through Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIP) 9678 and 9698, which aim to raise Ethereum’s gas limit and boost transaction throughput at the base layer.
Final Thoughts: A New Chapter for Ethereum Leadership
The Ethereum Foundation’s restructuring signals a renewed commitment to operational excellence and ecosystem leadership. By clearly separating vision-setting from day-to-day management, the Foundation hopes to scale Ethereum while preserving its core principles.
As Ethereum prepares for major upgrades like Fusaka and Pectra, the effectiveness of this new leadership structure will be crucial in determining Ethereum’s competitiveness in the rapidly evolving blockchain landscape.
