Ethereum Foundation Cuts 20% of Staff in Major Restructure

 

The Ethereum Foundation is cutting its workforce by 20% and laying off about 54 staff members following a month-long reorganization.

 

The layoffs aim to make the foundation leaner, aligning with the foundation’s March updated Mandate and Treasury Management Policy, which together eliminate activities that fall outside the foundation’s core priorities. Affected staff will still be able to contribute to the Ethereum ecosystem from outside the EF, with the foundation stating that plans are in place to compensate those who have been laid off.

 

“In order to make sure those who are leaving are set up well for the transition, we are offering a package comprising severance and transition support. The severance is the higher of one month’s pay per year worked at the EF and the amount locally mandated by the individual’s jurisdiction,” the Ethereum Foundation wrote in a blog post.

 

“This is the same severance we offered to the colleagues who left the EF in the past few months. The transition support includes help finding a new place to contribute in the ecosystem, plus a small transition grant earmarked to cover individual transition expenses.”

 

The New 5-Cluster System

As part of its restructuring effort, the Ethereum Foundation will adopt a five-cluster system that effectively divides the foundation into five layers or domains of work. The clusters include:

 

Protocol Layer: This layer will focus on the protocol’s core priorities, playing a key role in scaling and hardening Ethereum while preserving the protocol’s core features, including censorship resistance, privacy, and security. Members of this cluster will also be involved in the safe deployment of protocol upgrades, addressing toxic MEV, reducing complexity and trust dependencies, and advancing long-term research.

 

Access Layer: The main role of this layer is to ensure self-sovereignty for users and agents. Team members in this cluster will work to ensure that key protocol actions, such as reading chain state, transacting privately, and delegating authority, are possible without relying on unverifiable intermediaries.

 

User Layer: This layer will be responsible for bridging the gap between what Ethereum provides and its relevance and usefulness to users. Team members in this cluster will conduct research on user segments and use cases, and focus on education, to ensure that protocol decisions reflect users’ needs and choices.

 

Community Layer: This layer will manage the foundation’s external presence and relationships. Team members in this cluster will help clarify and advocate for what the Ethereum Foundation represents and how it differs from financial or corporate crypto organizations. They will also focus on building the foundation’s relationships beyond the crypto sector.

 

Institutional Layer: This layer will manage the foundation’s engagement with institutions, including financial firms, enterprises, governments, universities, and nonprofit organizations. To support large-scale adoption, members of this cluster will work to ensure Ethereum meets institutional needs while complying with regulatory standards.