Ethereum’s new leadership charts course for crypto’s largest altcoin

The Ethereum Foundation recently released a blog post written by Hsiao-Wei Wang and Tomasz Stańczak, who have now occupied their new co-executive director roles for almost a month. 

Employing both executives is the EF’s attempt to change the way things are done by embracing a new leadership model. They hope the new brand of leadership will introduce diverse and complementary perspectives and enhance their ability to meet complex challenges.

“We are excited to embrace the opportunities and challenges ahead, guided by a deep commitment to Ethereum’s core values and a vision grounded in stewardship, coordination, and long-term thinking,” they wrote.

While having two heads may seem counterproductive, the co-executive directors have stated that the EF will not be pulled in two different directions. Especially since their relationship is built on mutual respect, trust, and shared values.

Hsiao-Wei and Tomasz share plans for the next 12 months

Both executives say their tenure will be characterized by technical excellence and guided by two pillars: Guiding Principles (core values) and Objectives (pursuit of impact and resilience).

Hsiao-Wei and Tomasz said they plan to focus the foundation’s efforts on three areas over the next year without straying from the EF’s core values. These include scaling the Ethereum mainnet, scaling blobs, and improving UX.

This means they plan to dedicate considerable resources to improving mainnet and L2 interoperability and coordination, UX, DevEx, while shining the spotlight on applications and L2s at Devcon.

There are also plans to accelerate the journeys of developers, founders, and institutions through the pathways towards building on Ethereum and adopting the network.

The Ethereum Foundation has changed under the new dual leadership

Before Hsiao-Wei Wang and Tomasz Stańczak were appointed to their current roles, many considered EF a sinking ship.

The previous sole executive director, Aya Miyaguch, has now become the foundation’s president. She drew a considerable amount of criticism, with many blaming her for being inefficient and lacking technical focus.

While she was executive director, the EF was constantly accused of overspending, not investing its resources, and not focusing on Ethereum’s growth. It has been nearly a month since Hsiao-Wei and Tomasz took over, and it appears things are looking up.

In their joint blog post, Tomasz promised to transform the EF into an organization that will communicate more openly and be willing to enter difficult dialogues without delay.

He has already started doing that. Just a few days ago, on April 21, he shared a lengthy tweet detailing the steps they had taken to move things forward, which included freeing up Vitalik Buterin’s time for research and exploration.

The post was warmly welcomed and saw many Ethereum maxis in the comments praising the direct engagement with the community. Others called it a morale boost.

While Tomasz seems to be focused on fostering clear communication and scaling Ethereum, Hsiao-Wei wrote in the post that the priority will be strengthening the EF’s operations to support the ecosystem’s growth.

They have both vowed to ensure the EF not only shows up where it’s needed but also is ready to “make space” when the ecosystem flourishes on its own. This eliminates complaints of the EF exerting too much influence over what is supposed to be a decentralized network.

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