Author: Hristina Vasileva

Translated by: Deep Tide TechFlow

Deep Tide Overview: Between April and May 2026, at least six core members of the Ethereum Foundation (EF) left in quick succession, covering protocol engineering, cryptoeconomics research, and management. The EF officially attributed this to an active downsizing within the "Mandate" framework, but the community observed: a drop in core developers from 225 to 169, a reduction in ETH holdings, and a delay in the Glamsterdam upgrade. This Cryptopolitan report outlines the list of departures, the logic behind EF's restructuring, and the current state of ecological developers.

The Ethereum Foundation (EF) has lost several key contributors, and questions surrounding the organization's direction and the future of Ethereum have intensified. This wave of departures occurred just after Tomasz Stańczak stepped down after serving only one year as EF's co-executive director.

In April and May, a total of six contributors left or went on long-term leave. The departures were primarily focused on the core engineering team and research department of the foundation.

Some of the engineers were from the Protocol Cluster responsible for Ethereum's L1 design. This department underwent restructuring, and engineers Barnabé Monnot and Tim Beiko left in succession.

Earlier, Josh Stark announced his departure after seven years at EF, where he served as co-chair of the "Trillion Dollar Security Initiative". Trent Van Epps left after five years at EF, where he had been involved in organizing the Protocol Guild, and will continue contributing to the broader ecosystem in a part-time role.

May Departure Wave Intensifies

Recently departed from EF is Carl Beek, who worked at the foundation for seven years and was a key figure during the launch phase of the Beacon Chain.

Julian Ma also resigned recently, having spent four years at EF focusing on cryptoeconomic research and mechanism design.

These two departures garnered more attention within the Ethereum community, leading to heightened discussions about the future direction of EF. The foundation's own public statements have emphasized "overall support for the ecosystem," deliberately downplaying its role as a central power organization.

The departure of core members does not directly indicate that there is a problem with Ethereum itself. However, these departures have indeed sparked discussions about leadership, coordination mechanisms, and what the goal of "decentralization" truly means.

Developer Activity Still Strong

Despite the turmoil in upper management, Ethereum's developer activity remains stable. Token Terminal data shows that the project currently retains 169 core developers, which has rebounded by 63% over the past month. However, observing over a longer period, core developers have dropped from 225 in May 2025 to 169 on May 19, 2026.

Figure Caption: Ethereum core developers have slightly rebounded over the past month but have decreased from 225 in May 2025 to 169.

Source: Token Terminal

The overall number of ecological developers has now fallen behind Solana. However, according to Chainspect data, the Ethereum ecosystem still has 9,744 active developers.

EF is advancing its restructuring according to its newly released Mandate document, adjusting its development direction. One of the core goals of the Mandate is to reduce the foundation's direct influence, which inherently includes parting ways with some key contributors.

Another real issue facing EF is the shrinking ETH reserves in the organizational wallet. The foundation currently holds 103,660 ETH, having previously used some tokens for staking and sold a portion of the reserves to BitMine.

This wave of departures comes at an inopportune time: Ethereum is expected to become a key infrastructure layer for global finance. The team restructuring coincides with a peak period of intense attacks on decentralized projects, with the Ethereum ecosystem being particularly targeted.

After these news reports surfaced, the ETH price hovered in a bottom range, having dropped 40% over the past year. As of this writing, ETH is priced at $2,117.02, although the amount staked in the Beacon Chain contracts has accounted for 31% of the circulating supply.