Two more Ethereum Foundation researchers have announced their resignations, with Carl Beek and Julian Ma submitting their resignations on May 18. According to reports from The Block, Beek is leaving after seven years at the foundation, while Ma is stepping down after approximately four years. Beek is perhaps most known for his contributions to Ethereum's Beacon Chain, which supported the blockchain's highly complex upgrade to proof-of-stake consensus in 2020. Ma noted some of his proudest achievements include co-authoring FOCIL (EIP-7805) to boost Ethereum's censorship-resistance and leading the rollout of the Fast Confirmation Rule that dropped bridging time between Ethereum Layer 2s and the mainnet to 13 seconds. Beek announced he is leaving after seven years, noting he and his wife welcomed a one-year-old last month. His last day will be Friday, May 29. As reported by The Block, Beek thanked the Ethereum community, stating "The strength of Ethereum is, and always will be, the people behind it striving to make it what it is."
These latest resignations add to a growing number of departures in recent months, including the former heads of the major Protocol cluster earlier this month. According to The Block, Tomasz K. Stańczak stepped down as co-executive director in February, less than a year into the job, while Josh Stark resigned in March after seven years. Other high-profile researchers and leaders who left the EF include Barnabé Monnot and Tim Beiko of the Protocol team and Trent Van Epps, who key organized the influential Protocol Guild. Alex Stokes, former co-lead of Protocol, also announced he is going on sabbatical earlier this month. Last June, amid long-simmering tensions, Péter Szilágyi announced he was leaving the organization after about a decade, having created the most widely used Ethereum execution client Geth. The Protocol Guild, which is today an independent funding organization for Ethereum core developers, has also separated from the EF.
Beek announced he is leaving after seven years, noting he and his wife welcomed a one-year-old last month. His last day will be Friday, May 29. As reported by The Block, Beek thanked the Ethereum community, stating "To every researcher, core dev, EFer, and community member, whether we worked together closely or not: thank you. The strength of Ethereum is, and always will be, the people behind it striving to make it what it is. I'm grateful to have spent these years among you." Similarly, Ma noted he is stepping down after about four years, having made contributions to Ethereum's mechanism design, cryptoeconomics, and protocol scaling. Ma's departure follows his proudest achievements in Ethereum's mechanism design, cryptoeconomics, and protocol scaling.
The Ethereum Foundation went through a significant reshuffling in 2025 to address community criticism about the organization's execution, scaling, and support for the ecosystem amid Ethereum's competition with other chains. According to The Block, the EF was praised for reducing former Executive Director Aya Miyaguchi's influence with the appointment of more technical co-leads. Vitalik Buterin also took an increasingly visible role in communicating the Ethereum roadmap, particularly its recommitment to scaling the Ethereum base layer while pulling back the so-called "rollup-centric" roadmap. However, the EF has raised significant controversy in recent months, most notably asking employees to sign a loyalty pledge after publishing a mandate outlining the EF's focus on CROPs values, short for Censorship resistance, Open source, Privacy, and Security. While most Ethereum community members support CROPs in the abstract, the mandate's apparent references to the controversial Milady online community upset many community members. The foundation's request for employees to sign loyalty pledges has added to the growing concerns about the foundation's direction and internal governance structure.
The crypto community is beginning to question what exactly is happening inside the Ethereum Foundation as a growing wave of high-profile departures raises fresh uncertainty around the nonprofit's future. According to recent reports, the community is questioning why so many contributors are suddenly stepping away from the organization. The mounting scrutiny comes as the Ethereum Foundation faces mounting internal challenges and organizational changes, with the current Ethereum price trading just below $2,100 U.S. The foundation's recent controversies, including the loyalty pledge mandate and apparent references to controversial online communities, have added to the growing concerns about the organization's direction and governance structure. Additionally, recent security incidents like the ongoing exploit of the Verus-Ethereum bridge, which has drained $11.6 million in assets, highlight broader concerns about the foundation's technical oversight and security protocols.
