New Joint Directors Share the Future Blueprint for Ethereum Expansion and User Experience.

Author: Bankless

On May 7, Ethereum completed the Pectra network upgrade, marking a new chapter in ecological development. Taking this opportunity, Ethereum Foundation's newly appointed Joint Executive Directors Tamas Stanczak and Shay Wong discussed their thoughts and determination to drive change in an interview with Bankless.

In the past, the community has criticized the Ethereum Foundation for its execution speed, communication methods, and ongoing token sales. In this interview, the two addressed these concerns one by one:

They provided direct explanations regarding community questions, including the necessity of "selling tokens."

• They elaborated on the three strategic focuses: "Scaling L1, Scaling Blobs, and Improving User Experience."

• They clarified the technical development path from Pectra to Fusaka (expected in the fall), and then to the Amsterdam upgrade next year.

• They plan to elevate hard forks to a 6-month cycle and proposed long-term scaling goals, such as scaling 100 times within four years.

Below are selected excerpts from the interview, translated by the Blockchain Simplified team:

Q1: Please introduce your background and how you came to hold this position at the Ethereum Foundation?

Shay Wong: My background is in computer science. I joined the Foundation in 2017. At that time, I was a core protocol researcher working on the first version of the sharding proof of concept (PoC). Since then, I have been closely involved in the work on the Ethereum protocol, which was then referred to as the consensus protocol. With the emergence of Can chain, I focused more on the consensus layer of the Ethereum protocol and contributed to the transition to proof of stake (i.e., the merge). My role is somewhat like a co-lead of the Foundation's consensus R&D team, primarily responsible for the specifications of the consensus layer and acting as a coordinator between research and client (CL).

Before joining the leadership team, I thought the role of a Foundation researcher was very special, not just about researching functional features. We also care about how these features will impact users. Last December, I joined the leadership team. This experience helped me to serve as a Joint Executive Director alongside Tomasz.

Tomasz Stanczak: I first encountered Ethereum at a small gathering in London around late 2015 or early 2016. At that time, I was working in traditional finance. In August 2017, I founded Nethermind, a core development infrastructure company. I started by reading the yellow paper and thought the best way to learn was to implement it, so I began coding in C# and gradually delved into infrastructure.

I envisioned that Ethereum would eventually need specialized tools, like a "data market." I joined Flashbots in 2020, participating in MEV solutions, which greatly accelerated my journey. At that time, I was also developing the Oiler project, trying to build a block space gas trading solution. Nethermind grew to about 300 people and introduced around 600 people to the ecosystem through internship programs. A few months ago, I provided advice to Aya regarding leadership direction. In February of this year, I reached out again and ultimately decided to join. I believe Ethereum needs help and leaders.

Q2: What does this Joint Executive Director position specifically mean, and what is your vision?

Shay Wong: The Executive Directors of the Ethereum Foundation need to think long-term because we are a non-profit organization. Our mission is to be the stewards of the ecosystem, stepping up when the ecosystem needs us most, focusing on key areas, and empowering other participants. We need to establish principles for ourselves that should not waver frequently, and also enhance our strength and resilience so that we can flexibly focus on the dynamic issues we deal with every day.

Tomasz Stanczak: I bring experience and energy in building organizations and working within the ecosystem. For the past four years, I have been nomadic, encountering many builders. I aim to help improve the Foundation's internal structure and accelerate processes. There are about 40 leaders in the Foundation leading small teams, and we need to give them space to recognize that they are the true leaders of EF.

There are small things within the Foundation that can make a big difference, and many talented people can communicate extensively. This was almost the first thing I started addressing before I officially began working. With my experience in building clients, I can examine challenges from a technical perspective. In the past few weeks, I have opened my schedule to listen to feedback. We hope the Foundation can communicate more actively and not shy away from difficult issues, even if it sometimes makes people uncomfortable.

Q3: Aya Miyaguchi's era was defined as "subtractive gains." How do you define the new chapter under your leadership? What achievements do you hope to leave behind?

Tomasz Stanczak: I see my role as an executor rather than a vision setter, operating within the vision that Shay and I have jointly established, committed to bringing dynamic, short-term changes in the next year or two. It's like planting a garden; now you need to prune and organize everything that grows there. I hope Ethereum is seen as the global neutral layer for the global economy and transactions.

This is about winning through influence, bringing the values we truly care about: when we talk about privacy, security, open-source access, and the protocol's resistance to censorship, these are important to us. If the protocol lacks influence and does not integrate into all future economic, governance, and AI processes, we cannot achieve these. The success of L1 will empower L2, spreading Ethereum's values together. Everything in the future should run on Ethereum as it does on the internet.

Shay Wong: I tell myself to "lead clearly, act purposefully, and build without attachment." This is about the world we want to live in, not just personal achievements. Ethereum should not just be a product; it is about culture and the world we want to live in. I hope Ethereum becomes the most decentralized, permissionless, and open blockchain in the world. To achieve this, we need to develop in certain areas, but growth and principles should complement each other. We need to balance principles with resilient growth.

Q4: The community generally believes that the Ethereum Foundation does well in research, values, and client diversity, but lacks in execution speed, communication (such as roadmaps), and connecting with actual users (like DeFi users). How do you view this feedback?

Tomasz Stanczak: Everything people complain about is very real. I have probably had about 200 conversations in the past two months and heard similar feedback. We need to clarify our North Star goals and increase speed. We need to optimize the developer onboarding process, communicate with DeFi builders, clarify the roadmap (such as the L1/L2 relationship and the future of staking), and improve communication to avoid the "ivory tower" image.

We cannot get caught up in endless research; we need to adapt to market changes. Many people are willing to help, and some will say, "I have been dormant for the past three or four years, but I am ready to come back and help." Even people within the Ethereum Foundation are extremely impatient for change; they want to participate.

Q5: Can these issues—slow speed, insufficient communication, and disconnection from reality—be resolved?

Tomasz Stanczak: Absolutely. Many issues can be resolved through small communication adjustments and process optimizations. The key is to activate decision-makers within the community and internally, empowering them to accelerate action without waiting.

We need to involve application developers earlier in the planning phase. We should also proactively seek out those who are most likely to oppose a feature and listen to their opinions at the outset, thinking about how to build something so important and beneficial that even opponents will be swayed by overwhelming support from others. A product-centered mindset is central to solving these issues.

Q6: You mentioned "product-centered Ethereum." Does this mean focusing more on actual applications and user needs?

Tomasz Stanczak: A product-centered mindset is foundational to achieving our three goals (scaling L1, scaling Blobs, and improving UX). It means we need to constantly think: Why are we making this change? Who is it for? And involve users in co-design. At the same time, we must uphold core values and quality standards.

For example, if you consider EOF or scaling L1, you must ask: What is the impact on decentralization? Which users will be affected? What are their opinions? We need to restructure ACD meetings to include product discussions. Developer experience (DevX) is also part of user experience. We need to provide builders with a clear roadmap and support. For instance, what happens after a hackathon? What will happen the next day on Monday? Will they start building on Ethereum? Do they feel that Ethereum is a product that provides them with answers, clearly explains how to build, what technology to choose, who can help, and how to obtain funding?

Q7: What specific ideas do you have regarding metrics for measuring success?

Tomasz Stanczak: Not all metrics have been finalized. We need to translate goals into teams and create internal dashboards. For L1 scaling, we have preliminary goals: three times this year, a total of ten times next year. Dankrad proposed an exponential roadmap of 100 times within four years.

This process includes: first reviewing all clients, then making changes to the execution and consensus layers through EIPs, and finally achieving acceleration primarily through ZK technology in the next three to four years. This 100 times goal will become the anchor for our organizational research and development. We will go to each research team and ask: How does your work serve this 100 times goal? Is it serving the first year, second year, third year, or fourth year?

**Q8: The community sometimes has unrealistic expectations of the *Ethereum Foundation*. What are some things that the *Ethereum Foundation* does not actually do or that are beyond its scope?**

Shay Wong: One controversial issue is selling ETH. The community expects us to hold, but to operate and fund ourselves, we must sell. Secondly, for the most core things that only EF can do, we will be more hands-on, allocating internal resources. But for other levels of things, like certain business developments, we prefer to support through funding. The role of EF is more of a coordinator, helping people find the right resources within the ecosystem.

Tomasz Stanczak: The Ethereum Foundation should intervene when something is lacking in the ecosystem, but usually to help the corresponding organizations emerge and grow. We do not play the role of coordinator or owner. For example, in communication with Wall Street or the government, the Foundation certainly does not want to coordinate this work, but we hope to be able to answer questions and provide expertise, rather than avoiding interaction as we may have in the past. We are not the owners of the Ethereum protocol, nor do we act as owners.

In terms of engineering, we have the Geth team, which is important for research, but we do not build consensus clients. We avoid directly building applications or infrastructure because the ecosystem can do better. In business development, we hope to play a more active role as "helpers": connecting applications, clients, talent, and research outcomes. The Foundation often serves as the first point of contact for many participants. Rather than just providing funding each time, we prefer to actively help founders solve the specific problems they face in the early stages. A significant part of Ethereum is about creating networks, and building a social layer network is something the Foundation can do very well. In marketing, we focus on communication and clarity rather than advertising.

Q9: What are the specific plans for the roadmap and cadence regarding the upcoming hard forks?

Tomasz Stanczak: We plan to accelerate the cadence of hard forks to approximately every six months. The next one is Pectra, which will include not only the Max Effective Balance changes related to staking but also significant improvements in account abstraction and user experience brought by something like EIP-3074 (SFS 102). We are currently testing rigorously to ensure safety.

After the deployment of Pectra, we will immediately launch the development network for the next hard fork, Fusaka, aiming for a release in September or October this year, with the key goal of ensuring there are no delays. There will also be a large gathering of core developers and researchers to accelerate this goal.

The subsequent hard fork is Amsterdam, which is planned to be completed by the end of next year and will include acceleration of L1 scaling. Some L1 scaling work has already begun, with some not requiring a hard fork and others needing EIPs. Meanwhile, the ecosystem development department, led by Jane Smith, is reorganizing processes to better serve builders' needs in areas like tokenization and RWA. ACD meetings are also being adjusted to accommodate a faster delivery pace and to involve application developers earlier.

Article link: https://www.hellobtc.com/kp/du/05/5843.html

Source: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/bgVI--ajna1ZlP80SxtCaQ

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