#Ethereum Revamps Core Team  Earthquake at Ethereum Foundation: Core team disbanded, new era begins.

The Ethereum Foundation (EF) has restructured its internal development group, renamed its core research team, and laid off some staff in the process.

According to an announcement made on June 2, EF’s former Protocol Research and Development (PR&D) team is now simply called “Protocol” and will focus on three strategic goals:

Scaling Ethereum’s base layer (L1), expanding blob space for rollups, and improving user experience (UX). EF explained:

“The process of ‘implementing the protocol’ is complex and requires us to proactively respond to difficult-to-articulate and even more difficult-to-fulfill demands.”

The Foundation presented the change as a turning point for Ethereum, as advances in zero-knowledge rollups (zkEVMs) and layer-two technologies are bringing blockchain closer to large-scale adoption.

“This moment may be Ethereum’s greatest opportunity to apply not only our technology, but also our values ​​on a planetary scale.”

The restructuring has also affected the Foundation’s staff. Long-time core developers such as Tim Beiko, Alex Stokes, and Barnabé Monnot have been officially reassigned to areas of focus.

As part of the restructuring, “some members” of the PR&D team have reportedly left. EF did not say how many people were affected.

“Protocol is now a more unified and leaner organization, with more focused teams,” it said.

Ethereum continues to shake up

EF has undergone significant leadership and structural changes in the past few months.

In January, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin announced a change to EF’s leadership model, aimed at focusing on technical expertise and improving communication with developers. The announcement was followed by internal criticism and discussions about the foundation’s strategic direction and transparency.

A more comprehensive structural reshuffle took place in April, when EF formalized the separation of its board of directors from its executive functions and appointed two new co-executive directors: Hsiao-Wei Wang, a longtime Ethereum researcher, and Tomasz Stańczak, CEO of infrastructure firm Nethermind.

Under the new model, the board, which includes Buterin, will be tasked with setting the long-term vision, while the newly appointed executive team will oversee operations.