Ethereum price is experiencing significant momentum as it pounces higher above $1,850, gaining more than 5% over the past day. According to market reports, the cryptocurrency is now approaching the $2,000 level, though this ceiling has historically presented challenges for bullish sentiment. The price action comes after weeks of market hesitation, with capital rotation back into major smart contract platforms providing crucial support for Ethereum's recovery.
The Ethereum Foundation has undergone its most significant reorganization in its 12-year history throughout 2026, responding to mounting community criticism over governance and technical priorities. The foundation entered the year under pressure from developers, investors and prominent community members who argued that Ethereum's roadmap had become overly focused on layer-2 scaling while neglecting improvements to the base layer. In February, co-executive director Tomasz Stańczak announced his resignation after helping lead initial restructuring efforts, followed by the publication of a new mandate built around the CROPS framework — censorship resistance, resilience, openness, privacy and security.
The foundation experienced unprecedented turnover with nine senior foundation leaders, researchers and executives leaving over the following months, marking one of the largest periods of turnover in its history. Co-executive director Hsiao-Wei Wang resigned in June, coinciding with the foundation's most significant restructuring to date. The organization cut roughly one-fifth of its workforce, eliminating 54 positions, and reduced its annual operating budget by about 40% as part of plans to make the organization leaner and more financially sustainable.
The latest development sees former Ethereum Foundation researcher Francesco D'Amato join Ethlabs after five years, adding to the growing network of independent protocol development groups. According to D'Amato's statement on X, he described the decision to leave as difficult but said the current period of change made it the right moment for "a new beginning." D'Amato will work alongside former EF colleagues to expand Ethlabs' protocol research efforts, bring new researchers into the ecosystem, and continue contributing to Ethereum's long-term technical roadmap. Among his priorities, he plans to focus on reducing Ethereum's transaction finality time, stating he wants to help Ethereum "finalize much faster, as soon as possible."
The restructuring coincided with the emergence of multiple new institutional entities designed to take on work traditionally handled by the foundation. ETHLabs launched in June, backed by several of the ecosystem's largest ETH treasury companies, with aims to accelerate protocol research, ecosystem coordination and product development outside the foundation. Ethereum Institutional was unveiled in July, focused on supporting enterprises, asset managers and nonprofits through research, education and standards development. The latest addition is EthSystems, established as a new for-profit company specifically designed to build infrastructure that keeps transactions confidential for financial institutions using Ethereum, with backing from Bitmine, SharpLink, and Lubin.
