When Tomasz Stańczak stepped down as co-executive director of the Ethereum Foundation earlier this year, the organization was already under pressure. He was supposed to be part of the new guard — brought in to reshape how EF operates. Then his co-director Hsiao-Wei Wang went on sabbatical. And now she too is gone.
Wang announced her resignation on June 18, effective immediately, saying time away had helped clarify her priorities. She joined the Ethereum Foundation in 2017 and spent nearly nine years involved in the protocol's most consequential milestones: the ecosystem's early growth, the merge to Proof-of-Stake, and the push toward scalability. As co-executive director and board member, her departure means both EF leadership positions are now vacant. Board member Bastian Aue has stepped in to manage operations on an interim basis — he was already helping coordinate during Wang's sabbatical.
The Ethereum Foundation is a Swiss nonprofit that funds research, coordinates protocol development, and distributes grants across the ecosystem. Its decisions shape how Ethereum competes against Solana, rival Layer-2 networks, and institutional blockchains. Critics have long pointed to slow decision-making, governance opacity, and a disconnect between EF priorities and what builders actually need. Those complaints have only grown louder over the past year.
Eight senior figures have now left the Ethereum Foundation in five months. That goes well beyond normal turnover. Two consecutive co-directors exiting in quick succession signals something structural — and it leaves a pointed open question: who takes over, and with what agenda? For the researchers and developers who depend on EF grants and protocol coordination, that answer matters in a very practical way.
