Tomasz Stańczak is stepping down as co-executive director of the Ethereum (ETH) Foundation at the end of February, less than a year after taking the role.
The foundation's board has appointed Bastian Aue as interim co-executive director alongside Hsiao-Wei Wang.
The departure adds another chapter to the Ethereum Foundation's turbulent governance period, which has seen multiple leadership changes since early 2025.
What Happened
Stańczak announced the decision on Thursday in a blog post, saying the core restructuring objectives he was hired to deliver are either completed or structurally embedded.
He described his remaining time at the organization as more stewardship than execution. Before joining the foundation, Stańczak was the founder and chief executive officer of Nethermind, one of Ethereum's major execution clients.
He took the co-ED role in March 2025 alongside Wang as part of a governance overhaul that moved former executive director Aya Miyaguchi to a newly created president position.
That restructuring came after months of community criticism over transparency, compensation disputes, and conflict-of-interest concerns tied to senior researchers' external advisory roles, as reported by CoinDesk.
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What Stańczak Said He Accomplished
In his blog post, Stańczak listed faster internal decision-making, treasury policy development, clearer compensation guidelines, and more open institutional engagement among his achievements.
He also pointed to two network upgrades delivered in 2025 and a forthcoming merged LEAN Ethereum and core development roadmap for 2026.
The foundation also built out a post-quantum security track and launched a decentralized AI team, according to the post.
Why It Matters
The Ethereum Foundation has now cycled through two top executive structures in under 12 months. Aue's appointment as an interim co-ED - not a permanent one - leaves the question of long-term leadership unresolved.
Stańczak said he plans to remain active in the Ethereum ecosystem as a core developer, focusing on what he called "delegated core development and delegated governance." He said he would take questions at ETHDenver and in upcoming podcast appearances.
Vitalik Buterin, who sits on the foundation's board, praised Stańczak's tenure on X, noting he had increased efficiency and pushed the organization to consider AI's role in blockchain systems.
Ether was trading near $1,950 at the time of writing, down roughly 40% from its August 2025 all-time high near $4,950.
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