Breaking! $ETH Foundation senior executives quake, core figures "probation period" not yet completed and suddenly resign, internal power struggle confirmed?

On the evening of February 13 Beijing time, the Ethereum Foundation’s co-Executive Director Tomasz Stańczak announced he will step down at the end of this month. This is less than a year after he took office. His position will be temporarily filled by Bastian Aue, while another co-Executive Director, Hsiao-Wei Wang, remains in place.

In his farewell letter on the foundation’s official website, Tomasz listed the achievements over the past year: accelerated decision-making processes, enhanced communication with the younger generation and builder communities, greater openness on social media and podcasts, closer collaboration with institutions, implementation of financial and compensation policies, clarification of the hierarchy between Layer 1 and Layer 2, and increased transparency in budgeting and organizational structure.

However, another part of the letter sparked widespread interpretation. He wrote, “Some changes can only wait for ‘surprise.’ Over time, my ability to independently execute within the foundation will decline. If by 2026 it feels like I’m just holding the baton,” the subtle emotional tone led the community to speculate that his departure might not be as simple as it seems.

Looking back a year, Tomasz’s appointment was essentially a crisis response. At that time, Bitcoin had just broken above $100,000 but then pulled back, while ETH’s price was weak, even falling below the lows of the previous year. Meanwhile, Solana was booming due to the Meme coin craze, while the ETH ecosystem appeared quiet. Community frustration boiled over, criticizing the foundation for internal power struggles and disconnect from the market and frontline builders.

Under pressure, ETH leadership had to make changes. On March 1, 2025, the foundation announced the appointment of Hsiao-Wei Wang and Tomasz Stańczak as co-Executive Directors, with former Executive Director Aya Miyaguchi stepping back. Hsiao-Wei is a core contributor to the Beacon Chain, and Tomasz is a leader at Nethermind, a well-known execution client.

Over the past year, changes have indeed taken place, focusing on two main areas: internal efficiency and external communication. Internal processes were greatly optimized, decision-making accelerated significantly, and the foundation cut 19 staff members to streamline its structure. An immediate result was a rapid decrease in on-chain transaction costs, which, although related to reduced activity, also included the swift implementation of foundational parameter changes like Blob extensions and Gas Limit increases—discussions that previously took repeated deliberation.

Externally, Tomasz frequently appeared on podcasts, AMAs, and social media, bringing “fresh energy,” as Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin described. The foundation also strengthened communication with developers, governments, and institutions, and revisited the “privacy” narrative to meet practical application needs.

But leaving after less than a year in office, his farewell letter was also meaningful, sparking speculation about the reasons. GregTheGreek, a core contributor to ETH consensus layer, revealed on social media that when he spoke with Tomasz a year ago, Tomasz had said his key performance indicator might be “getting fired in the first year.”

GregTheGreek offered two reasons: first, the internal power struggle within the foundation remains fierce, with Chair Aya Miyaguchi still holding real power; Tomasz’s reforms failed to address the root causes, leading to opposition from existing interest groups. Second, Tomasz’s deep background in Nethermind, Flashbots, and venture capital created obvious conflicts of interest, which, even if disclosed beforehand, could still provoke dissatisfaction.

He added that a year is enough to change an organization but not enough to change its culture. The community generally perceives his short tenure as a kind of “lack of a probation period.” Although Tomasz himself claims to prefer frontline technical work, and Vitalik and co-founder Joseph Lubin have not revealed much more, the undercurrent of dissatisfaction is still faintly perceptible.

Over the past year, we have seen changes in ETH and Vitalik’s public correction of his stance on Layer 2 solutions. But if ETH truly wants to innovate thoroughly, perhaps it should consider bringing in an experienced professional manager from outside the ecosystem—someone without historical baggage or vested interests, a truly independent leader.

Follow me for more real-time analysis and insights into the crypto market! $BTC $ETH $SOL

#Celebrating the New Year at Gate Square

#Post at Gate Square to win a $50,000 USD red envelope