Tomasz Stańczak has decided to step down as co-Executive Director of the Ethereum Foundation (EF). Bastian Aue has been appointed as the interim co-Executive Director.
An Executive Leadership Update from the Ethereum Foundation Board:
— Ethereum Foundation (@ethereumfndn) February 13, 2026
Tomasz Stańczak steps down from the co-ED role, Bastian Aue named interim co-Executive Director at EF.https://t.co/9IJlZlDY0a
Stańczak took the helm alongside Xiao-Wei Wang in March 2025 following a restructuring of the organization.
He is the founder of the Ethereum client Nethermind and one of the early members of the Flashbots team.
Just a month after the new leadership took over, they announced a shift in focus towards user experience (UX) and scaling issues for layer one blockchains. At that time, the team unveiled a simplified roadmap for Ethereum, emphasizing network performance.
On the Path of Change
In June, the organization reduced its staff of researchers and developers. According to a statement, the renamed Protocol division has focused on three main areas:
- scaling the base layer;
- expanding BLOB space;
- enhancing user experience (UX).
Former lead developer of the Geth client, Peter Siladji, linked his departure from EF to management's attempt to spin off the project into a separate commercial entity. The organization allegedly offered the team $5 million to transform into a private company. According to the programmer, this was part of plans to cease funding Geth, allowing Nethermind to capture its market share over the years.
Tomasz has always impressed me with his work ethic, his unique personality, and the kind of organization that he built at Nethermind. He brought a perspective on Ethereum, what blockchains fundamentally are, and how they fit into the future of the world as a whole, that was… https://t.co/puOO3ULubV
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) February 13, 2026
“In his year at EF, Tomasz significantly improved the efficiency of many departments and transformed the foundation into an organization that is much more responsive to the outside world. He brought new energy, and thanks to his support and encouragement, EF regularly achieves success beyond its previous comfort zone,” wrote Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin.
According to Stańczak, he plans to complete his departure from EF by the end of the month and start developing his own Ethereum project on March 1. He also denied speculation that his decision was related to Buterin's recent comments regarding the relevance of the L2 concept. His position has been challenged by several community members.
“Stańczak is a unique talent and leader who has achieved more in a year than most could ever hope for. His exceptionally open mind has also inspired us all […] He will continue to participate in many successful projects within the ecosystem, and we look forward to his continued contributions to Ethereum!” said former EF CEO and president Aya Miyaguchi.
Buterin specifically noted that Stańczak “pushed everyone” towards a new perspective on Ethereum's potential in the field of artificial intelligence.
Recall that in February, the co-founder of the blockchain platform described its potential alliance with AI.