Ethereum Foundation Revamps R&D: Rethinking Design and Development for the Future

Ethereum Foundation Unveils Major Restructuring to Streamline Protocol Development

Less than a month after the Pectra Upgrade, the Ethereum Foundation believes the world's second-largest cryptocurrency—both as a technology and an ecosystem—is nearing major breakthroughs with higher stakes for a broader audience. However, the foundation warns these advancements could be at risk if development remains bogged down in inefficient processes.

"We must rethink our current approach to designing, developing, and stewarding the protocol," the foundation stated in a recent announcement detailing the restructuring of its Protocol Research & Development teams.

The reorganization consolidates efforts under a new "Protocol" division focused on three key objectives:

• Scaling the main blockchain (Layer 1)
• Optimizing blob storage for data scaling
• Enhancing user experience

Leadership assignments include:

• L1 Scaling: Tim Beiko and Ansgar Dietrichs
• Blob Scaling: Alex Stokes and Francesco D'Amato
• User Experience: Barnabé Monnot and Josh Rudolf

The transition comes with personnel changes, as some team members will depart the foundation. The organization is actively encouraging ecosystem projects to recruit this available talent.

In parallel, the foundation introduced the Trillion Dollar Security Initiative, an ambitious effort to make Ethereum robust enough for billions of people to securely store over $1,000 onchain. The initiative seeks partnerships with institutions capable of supporting this vision of "civilization-scale infrastructure" securing trillions in value.

Dankrad Feist, the cryptographer behind the "Danksharding" optimization technique, will serve as strategic advisor across all development tracks.

Despite Ethereum's recent underperformance relative to other layer-1 projects, notable figures like BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes predict the cryptocurrency could reach $5,000 by year-end—nearly doubling its value and potentially setting new records.

This restructuring aims to close the gap between research and implementation, addressing challenges seen in previous upgrades like Pectra's testnet issues. Through these changes, the Ethereum Foundation reaffirms its commitment to proving "the world is ready for the world computer."