ETH Insider Explains Wave of 2026 Ethereum Foundation Departures

A long-time Ethereum investor and community figure has pushed back against growing alarm over the string of departures from the Ethereum Foundation (EF), arguing that the organization’s commitment to the network is as firm as ever.

Ryan Berckmans, who has worked full-time in the Ethereum space for eight years, offered one of the more detailed community-level defenses of the EF’s current direction since the exits started mounting this year.

Departures Caused by Differences of Opinion

According to Berckmans, people are misreading the situation.

“The EF departures are not because the people departing feel differently about Ethereum and our trajectory vs. the people staying at EF or vs. community folks like me,” he wrote.

What actually drove them, in his view, was a mix of internal disagreements over sub-strategies rather than any loss of faith in Ethereum itself, plus a deliberate generational shift.

“Some folks disagreed. Some tiny number were asked to leave for Reasons. Some few others left immediately due to Reasonable Net Feelings. Some more are leaving because the Wheel is Turning,” he explained.

Further, Berckmans added that new, younger contributors are ready to step into leadership across teams and departments. He also addressed a persistent piece of community frustration, that the EF and Vitalik Buterin do not care about ETH’s price, calling it a misconception.

According to him, they care deeply, but across a much longer time horizon than most community members track.

“They want to know, ‘How will Ethereum remain dominant after quantum computers?’ and, ‘How will Ethereum be the world’s economic hub for trillions in assets and thousands of L2s across a hundred countries?'”

His conclusion was that these are questions that can only get asked if you believe the outcome is achievable, and the EF’s programs in response to them are “gigabullish.”

Four Prominent Contributors Left in Just Four Weeks

The wave of exits has included Carl Beek, Julian Ma, Barnabé Monnot, Tim Beiko, Trent Van Epps, Josh Stark, and former co-Executive Director Tomasz Stańczak.

Stańczak’s departure, in particular, drew quite a lot of attention, considering that it came just 11 months after he’d taken the role. In addition, the exits have been concentrated, with four of the more prominent ones landing within roughly four weeks of each other in April and May.