The Ethereum Foundation has once again undergone high-level personnel changes. Co-Executive Director Wang Xiaowei announced her departure from the organization, continuing the foundation's ongoing personnel adjustments over the past year. Previously, Vitalik Buterin had stated that the foundation would shift to a leaner organizational structure, focusing on areas such as censorship resistance, privacy, and security.

There have been multiple departures this year.

Wang Xiaowei's departure occurred after she returned from her vacation. Earlier, her co-executive director partner, Tomasz Stańczak, had left in February of this year. Subsequently, Bastian Aue was appointed as interim co-executive director to jointly oversee the transition with Wang Xiaowei.

Wang Xiaowei stated that Bastian Aue facilitated the handover process during her leave of absence, and she believes now is the right time for her to step down.

In addition to the management reshuffle, the Ethereum Foundation has also lost several core members. The report mentions that renowned researcher Dankrad Feist and at least two other senior members have also left. These changes have exacerbated doubts about the foundation's ability to continue effectively driving the Ethereum ecosystem.

Buterin proposed the direction of tissue contraction.

Just a month before Wang Xiaowei's departure, Buterin stated that the Ethereum Foundation would be moving to a "smaller boat," meaning a smaller team with a more focused role. According to him, the foundation would concentrate its efforts on more specific goals such as censorship resistance, privacy, and security.

In fact, the internal adjustments within the foundation did not begin recently. Buterin previously mentioned that since the beginning of 2025, the foundation has been pushing for significant organizational changes aimed at improving relationships with ecosystem builders and active participants. Entering 2026, he also acknowledged that Ethereum needs to restructure its relationship with Layer 2 networks.

Fiscal policies are also being adjusted in tandem.

In addition to personnel changes, the Ethereum Foundation has recently adjusted its treasury management practices. The foundation has long faced criticism from the community for selling ETH. In response to these controversies, the foundation recently introduced a more transparent treasury policy, explaining the circumstances under which ETH will be sold and stating that it will strive to ensure acceptable returns on treasury assets.

Earlier this year, the foundation also began staking its treasury, with a target of eventually staking approximately 70,000 ETH. Based on the prices mentioned in the article, this asset is estimated to be worth approximately $119 million.

As of the time of this report, ETH had fallen approximately 1.4% in the past 24 hours, trading at around $1708. At this price, ETH has fallen nearly 66% from its all-time high of $4946 reached in August 2025.