A new nonprofit research and development lab called Ethlabs launched on June 23, 2026, backed by Bitmine, Sharplink, and Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin, with the goal of preparing Ethereum for a wave of institutional adoption. The lab brings together five former senior Ethereum Foundation researchers who have contributed to key protocol upgrades over the past decade. Ethlabs will focus on faster settlement, native issuance, cross-chain interoperability, and strengthening ETH's monetary properties to support the growing demand from institutions, stablecoins, tokenized assets, and autonomous AI commerce.
A Dedicated Home for Core Protocol Research
Ethlabs is cofounded by Ansgar Dietrichs, Barnabé Monnot, Caspar Schwarz-Schilling, Josh Rudolf, and Julian Ma—researchers responsible for advances in finality, scaling, data availability, the Ethereum Virtual Machine, and protocol economics. The lab provides them with stable, long-term funding independent of the Ethereum Foundation, which is refocusing on its core mandate. Ethlabs' early work will center on infrastructure that institutions need to move onchain at scale, including robust mainnet capacity and research that underpins ETH's role as a neutral settlement layer.
Funding and Independence
The funding effort is led by Bitmine (NYSE: BMNR), a Bitcoin miner that is positioning itself as a leading Ethereum treasury company, and Sharplink (NASDAQ: SBET), an institutional-grade Ethereum treasury platform. Joe Lubin, Ethereum co-founder and Consensys CEO, also contributed. Contributions flow through an independent grants administrator, and funders have no influence over the research agenda. Ethlabs leadership retains final say on technical direction, with transparency ensured through quarterly reporting and an annual audit.
Ecosystem Stewardship and Institutional Supercycle
Thomas Lee, Chairman of Bitmine, said the formation of Ethlabs demonstrates that key stakeholders are stepping up to support Ethereum's growth as institutions and AI agents adopt the network. Joseph Chalom, CEO of Sharplink, described the current period as an "institutional supercycle" and emphasized that giving researchers a stable home is a meaningful contribution to the ecosystem. Joe Lubin noted that Ethereum is entering a new stage where multiple independent steward nodes, including Ethlabs, will help evolve and protect the network. Ansgar Dietrichs, Executive Director of Ethlabs, said the lab was created to help Ethereum realize its potential as the neutral base layer for the onchain economy, where users, institutions, and agents can transact without intermediation.