The Ethereum Foundation (EF) is streamlining its core development operations to improve Layer 1 performance, blob scalability, and user experience. On Monday, the EF announced that its Protocol Research and Development Team will now simply be called “Protocol”, as part of a broader organizational reshuffle that includes the departure of some team members.

Realigning for Integration and Efficiency

According to the EF, the restructuring aims to foster tighter integration between research, prototyping, and production, enhancing efficiency and collaboration across the protocol development lifecycle. The foundation emphasized its renewed focus on mission-critical areas where it holds deep domain expertise—ranging from core code development to large-scale coordination and academic research.

“This means doubling down on areas where the EF has unique domain knowledge and unmatched deep expertise in our ecosystem,” the foundation stated.

Post-Pectra Era and Future-Looking Updates

The announcement comes shortly after the activation of Pectra, Ethereum’s largest upgrade since The Merge and Dencun, which introduced improvements to staking, wallets, and transaction performance. The EF is now preparing for its next major update, Fusaka, which will feature PeerDAS (Peer-to-Peer Data Availability Sampling)—a vital component of Ethereum’s long-term scaling roadmap.

2025 Strategy: Governance, Finance, and Decentralization

The restructuring also reflects broader shifts at the EF in 2025. Responding to community feedback and internal evaluations, the foundation has revised its leadership structure and financial strategy. A key evolution is its growing participation in decentralized finance (DeFi), deploying capital into protocols like Aave, Spark, and Compound to diversify treasury management and generate sustainable returns beyond ETH sales.