Tomasz Stańczak to Step Down from Ethereum Foundation

Tomasz Stańczak said on Friday he will step down as co-executive director of the Ethereum Foundation (EF) at the end of February.

Stańczak, who has served in the role for around a year, said in a post on X that Bastian Aue will take over as interim co-ED alongside current co-ED Hsiao-Wei. He added in a separate blog post that the foundation is in a strong place with “new voices”, making it a good time for a leadership change.

“I am happy with the current state of things; the roadmap is clearer; the goals are set; the leaders at the EF grew more confident about making decisions by themselves and owning more,” Stańczak said.

The EF is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the Ethereum ecosystem, which currently has a total value locked (TVL) of over $56 billion, making it the largest smart contract blockchain, according to DeFiLlama. Ethereum’s native token, Ether (ETH), is currently trading at $2,062, up 4.4% on the day.

Stańczak’s role as co-ED focused on improving efficiency and building ties with builders, institutions, and the broader community. He added that the foundation’s key goals – including faster decision-making, better communication, clearer policies, and greater transparency – have either been completed or are improving.

“It has been important for me, over the last year, to present the role of the EF co-ED as impactful and desirable, a position where one can make a meaningful difference by empowering people of extraordinary talent and dedication, both at the EF and more broadly in the Ethereum ecosystem,” Stańczak wrote.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin responded to the news on X, praising Stańczak’s work and creativity. Buterin said Stańczak helped improve the foundation by bringing “fresh new energy,” and pushing the EF to think more about how AI could change blockchain.

“I look forward to seeing the exciting work that Tomasz will continue to do, both within Ethereum and outside,” Buterin added.

Looking ahead, Stańczak said the foundation is working on a long-term plan for Ethereum, scaling the network with Layer 2s (L2s), and researching post-quantum security. He also said there’s a strong focus on expanding work in decentralized AI.

Stańczak concluded that he plans to continue working directly with founders in both frontier tech and Ethereum. “I want to see and support the realization of the vision that I have talked about over the last years,” he said. “It is one of the most exciting times to be a builder on Ethereum.”

Meanwhile, Aue said in a post on X that the role is not something that he takes “lightly,” given the “weight of responsibility.” He added that the decisions he makes “will be guided by a principled insistence on the properties of what we’re building (censorship resistance, open source, privacy, security).”