Ethereum Foundation lays off 20% of staff, completes major restructuring! Establishes "Five Core Clusters" vowing to defend the anti-censorship bottom line

According to the latest official announcement released today (23rd) by the Ethereum Foundation (EF), EF has completed a organizational restructuring after several months, officially announcing a reduction of about 20% of its staff (54 people), and dividing its internal structure into five core work clusters. This streamlining aims to implement the previous mission statement and funding management policies, fully defending Ethereum’s core principles of "CROPS" — Censorship resistance, Open source, Privacy, and Security.
(Background summary: Ethereum Foundation members reaffirm Ethereum’s "decentralization" mission: rejecting catering to speculators! Crack down on MEV monopolies, loudly advocate "unconditional privacy")
(Additional background: Ethereum Foundation’s major transformation: Vitalik releases the CROPS framework, downsizes, and refuses to be an ETH dump party)

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• Streamlining 20% of staff, offering generous severance and transition subsidies
• Establishing five major core clusters, solidifying the "CROPS" defense line
• Focusing on "things only EF can do"

After months of internal review and strategic adjustments, the Ethereum Foundation (EF) has undergone its largest organizational restructuring in recent years. According to the official announcement titled "EF’s New Structure" released by EF management on June 23, 2026, the ultimate goal of this reorganization is to thoroughly execute the previously issued "EF Mandate" and "Treasury Management Policy," ensuring that Ethereum continues to serve as a truly permissionless, self-sovereign infrastructure.

Streamlining 20% of staff, offering generous severance and transition subsidies

To achieve more focused and streamlined operations, EF announced it will cut 54 employees, about 20% of the total foundation staff. The official statement indicates that these departing contributors are expected to continue making contributions within the vast Ethereum ecosystem in other forms over the coming weeks.

Regarding severance compensation, EF offers generous packages: employees can receive either "one month’s salary for each year of service" or "the minimum standard according to local regulations," whichever is higher. Additionally, EF will provide small transition subsidies (such as career counseling fees) and assist departing employees in finding new opportunities within the Web3 ecosystem, demonstrating gratitude and support for early builders.

Establishing five major core clusters, solidifying the "CROPS" defense line

Post-restructuring, EF will be composed of "five core work clusters," operational teams, and management support teams. Each cluster has clear responsibility indicators:

• Protocol Layer: As EF’s traditional core, dedicated to strengthening Ethereum’s "CROPS" attributes — Censorship resistance, Open source, Privacy, and Security. Focus areas include preventing harmful MEV, advancing post-quantum cryptography, zkEVM research, and other long-term initiatives, refusing to compromise protocol layer integrity for short-term financial gains.
• Access Layer: Ensuring users have trustless alternatives for reading data, transacting, and staking, adhering to the "Zero Option" principle, with verifiable hardware to front-end interfaces.
• User Layer: Focused on user segmentation research and influence assessment, ensuring development decisions for protocol and access layers accurately address real user needs and autonomy concerns.
• Community Layer: Responsible for maintaining EF’s independent image, actively establishing high-quality collaborations with open-source communities in privacy encryption, civil liberties, and decentralized networks.
• Institutional Layer: Promoting adoption of Ethereum by financial institutions, governments, and enterprises, while maximizing the preservation of core values such as fair enforcement, privacy protection, and exit rights, avoiding Ethereum becoming merely a compliant backend.

Focusing on "things only EF can do"

The announcement summarizes that this bold restructuring is to enable EF to focus long-term on "core infrastructure work that only EF can do and must do." In the face of the rapidly changing cryptocurrency market, EF states it will not be swayed by short-term market fluctuations or excessive financialization, but will uphold Ethereum’s autonomous core values. The official preview indicates that detailed operational plans for each cluster will be released in the coming weeks, laying a solid foundation for Ethereum’s next decade of development.