The Ethereum Foundation (EF) has laid off approximately 20% of its workforce, reducing headcount by 54 employees, as part of a major restructuring. The move comes amid a sharp decline in the price of Ether (ETH), which has fallen to around $1,650, mirroring a broader crypto market selloff and heavy liquidations.
Restructuring and Strategic Shift
The EF announced the cuts on X, stating, "Today, the EF is changing shape, concluding a months-long process of reorganization as part of the implementation of the Mandate and the Treasury Management Policy." The foundation emphasized that the restructuring is necessary to streamline operations and reallocate resources toward long-term development goals. "We come out of this process with the structure, activities, and people necessary for execution on the critical tasks ahead of us, but also with 54 fewer colleagues, roughly 20% of the EF," the organization said.
Under the new structure, the EF will be organized into five main layers: protocol, access, user, community, and institutional. Separate groups will handle operations and management. The protocol layer will continue to focus on Ethereum's core technology, with an emphasis on values such as censorship resistance, privacy, security, and decentralization. Other divisions will target user experience, ecosystem engagement, outreach, and institutional adoption.
Support for Affected Employees
The foundation acknowledged the difficulty of the decision, stating, "These decisions were hard, but they are necessary. We must be resourced and organized in a way that allows us to focus on the critical work that only EF can, and therefore must, do in the coming years, without excessive disruption from short-term market movements." Affected employees will receive severance packages, career transition support, and grants to help cover transition costs, with the foundation encouraging them to explore opportunities within the broader Ethereum ecosystem. The EF plans to release more details on its new organizational structure and future plans in the coming weeks and months.