Ethereum Foundation Pledges to Support Privacy-First, Permissionless DeFi

The Ethereum Foundation is doubling down on decentralized finance this year, forming a dedicated internal unit to support builders and to scale what it calls “cypherpunk values alongside market growth.”

In a blog post published on Monday, Feb. 23, the organization framed DeFi as the “inevitable evolution of finance,” adding that “it’s been a critical driver of Ethereum’s growth and adoption.”

The foundation is explicit about the kind of DeFi it supports: “permissionless, censorship-resistant, privacy-first, self-custodial, and open source.”

The focus of the new DeFi unit, which sits within the organization’s App Relations team, is to guide DeFi development on Ethereum, support teams building in the space, and make sure projects stick to those principles. According to the blog post, the unit is led by Charles St. Louis and IvanGBI, both veterans from projects like DELV, MakerDAO, and Gearbox Protocol.

“The Ethereum Foundation believes in Defipunk: not finance that’s marginally better than TradFi, but finance that couldn’t exist without Ethereum,” the blog post reads.

First announced last year, “Defipunk” is the EF’s new framework that supports privacy- focused DeFi projects, as The Defiant reported earlier.

Ethereum remains the largest blockchain network by total value locked in DeFi, with $53.8 billion.

Priorities for 2026

To support the outlined plan, the foundation plans to set up “clear channels for DeFi teams to connect with the EF and each other,” though it didn’t provide specifics.

For 2026, the foundation is zeroing in on a set of priorities such as building stronger relationships with teams, improving security, supporting decentralization, advancing privacy, and conducting research.

Looking ahead, the Ethereum Foundation is also watching emerging intersections with AI, institutional adoption, stablecoins and new financial primitives, promising content and support in these areas.

To keep up with the trends, the organization has already set up a new unit dubbed the “dAI Team,” which aims to make Ethereum the “preferred settlement and coordination layer” for AI agents and the machine economy, The Defiant reported back in September.

The pledge to double down on DeFi comes just weeks after Tomasz Stańczak — who led the EF’s platform and EcoDev teams and founded execution-client project Nethermind — announced in mid-February that he would step down as co-executive director of the Ethereum Foundation.

Stańczak, who has served in the role for just under a year, said in a post on X that Bastian Aue will take over as interim co-ED alongside current co-ED Hsiao-Wei.