The Ethereum Foundation has completed a months-long organizational reorganization, reducing its workforce by 54 people, or roughly 20% of the organization. The EF said the restructuring is part of implementing its updated mandate and treasury management policy.
The new structure divides the foundation’s work into five main clusters: Protocol Layer, Access Layer, User Layer, Community Layer and Institutional Layer. The EF will also maintain an operations cluster and a separate management-support group.
Five Clusters Define the EF’s New Operating Model
The Protocol Layer cluster is focused on hardening and scaling Ethereum’s core protocol while preserving censorship resistance, open-source development, privacy and security. The EF said this work includes safe fork delivery, reducing complexity, minimizing trusted dependencies and advancing long-horizon research such as post-quantum security, zkEVM and L1 privacy.
The Access Layer cluster is designed to make Ethereum more usable for people and agents that need to read the chain, transact, prove, delegate and exit without relying on intermediaries. The User Layer cluster will focus on use-case research, user segments, education and impact evaluation.
The Community Layer will manage how the EF engages publicly inside and outside the Ethereum ecosystem. That includes relationships with open-source communities, privacy researchers, civil-liberty groups and other organizations aligned with Ethereum’s self-sovereignty goals.
The Institutional Layer will focus on financial institutions, enterprises, governments, universities and nonprofits that may interact with Ethereum through intermediated channels. The EF said this cluster will develop best practices, standards, reference architectures and educational material for institutional adoption.
Leaner EF Seeks Focus and Sustainability
The staff reduction is part of a broader effort to make the EF leaner and more focused. The foundation said the affected colleagues will receive severance and transition support, including ecosystem placement assistance and a transition grant.
The EF framed the cuts as necessary to ensure the organization can focus on work that only it can perform without being excessively disrupted by short-term market movements. It also said many departing contributors may continue working in the Ethereum ecosystem outside the foundation.
The restructuring comes as Ethereum faces a more complex institutional and technical environment. The protocol is being asked to support scaling, privacy, security, self-custody, regulated finance and enterprise adoption at the same time.
By separating work into specialized clusters, the EF appears to be trying to improve accountability and execution across distinct domains. The model also clarifies that institutional adoption is now a dedicated internal workstream rather than only a secondary ecosystem function.
For now, the confirmed development is that the EF has completed its reorganization, reduced headcount and shifted into a cluster-based operating structure. The next updates will be more detailed activity plans for each cluster and evidence that the leaner structure improves execution across Ethereum’s core roadmap.
