{"id":34133,"date":"2026-07-10T17:26:47","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T17:26:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/ethereum-foundation-dissolves-key-protocol-coordination-team\/"},"modified":"2026-07-10T17:27:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T17:27:08","slug":"ethereum-foundation-dissolves-key-protocol-coordination-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/ethereum-foundation-dissolves-key-protocol-coordination-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Ethereum Foundation dissolves key protocol coordination team"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-detail__content blocks\">\n<p class=\"is-style-lead\">The Ethereum Foundation has dissolved its Protocol Support team as part of a broader restructuring that recently cut about 20% of the nonprofit\u2019s workforce.<\/p>\n<div id=\"cn-block-summary-block_623fe2423237a8b72d9e45eabc8aacc4\" class=\"cn-block-summary\">\n<div class=\"cn-block-summary__nav tabs\">\n        <span class=\"tabs__item is-selected\">Summary<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<div class=\"cn-block-summary__content\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Ethereum Foundation dissolved Protocol Support after five years coordinating upgrades, developer meetings and fellowship programs worldwide.<\/li>\n<li>Several team members lost their roles following the Foundation\u2019s broader 20% workforce reduction announced recently.<\/li>\n<li>Core protocol work continues under Ethereum Foundation\u2019s new structure, but some support programs face uncertainty.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- .cn-block-summary --><\/p>\n<p>Protocol Support coordinated several parts of Ethereum\u2019s development process. Its work covered core developer meetings, network upgrade tracking, Ethereum Improvement Proposal support and programs that trained new protocol contributors.<\/p>\n<p>    <!-- .cn-block-related-link --><\/p>\n<p>The Protocol Support account <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/EFprotocol\/status\/2075202550291370434?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">confirmed<\/a> the team\u2019s closure on X. It also invited Ethereum organizations seeking experienced developers to contact former team members.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">the EF Protocol Support team has been dissolved \ud83d\udd96<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 EF Protocol Support (@EFprotocol) <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/EFprotocol\/status\/2075202550291370434?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 9, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Mario Havel, who worked with Protocol Support for more than five years, said he remains at the Ethereum Foundation. However, he confirmed that the rest of his team had been dissolved and that several colleagues had lost their roles.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am still part of EF, continuing my work and figuring out what\u2019s most needed in the future,\u201d Havel <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TMIYChao\/status\/2074907379930440014?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">wrote on X<\/a>. \u201cHowever, all of my team, Protocol Support, that I have been part of for 5+ years, has been dissolved.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I was getting questions about recent EF layoffs and my situation so I should share something public as well. <\/p>\n<p>I am still part of EF, continuing my work and figuring out what&#8217;s most needed in the future. However, all of my team, Protocol Support, that I have been part for 5+\u2026 <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/KRgKxiXQpa\">https:\/\/t.co\/KRgKxiXQpa<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Mario Havel (@TMIYChao) <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TMIYChao\/status\/2074907379930440014?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 8, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Havel described the closure as the \u201cbitter end\u201d of a team that had supported Ethereum\u2019s core development process through several forms and leadership changes.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Team managed key Ethereum developer programs<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Protocol Support helped organize All Core Developers meetings, where client teams and researchers discuss proposed upgrades. It also supported breakout calls, tracked network fork readiness and helped contributors understand Ethereum\u2019s technical roadmap.<\/p>\n<p>The team maintained Forkcast, a public platform that tracks Ethereum upgrades, proposed EIPs, testnet launches and mainnet activation plans. Former team lead William Morriss <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/wolovim\/status\/2074502449570713704?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">said<\/a> the restructuring had ended his Ethereum Foundation role.<\/p>\n<p>Protocol Support also ran the Ethereum Protocol Fellowship. The program trained developers seeking to contribute to Ethereum\u2019s core protocol and connected participants with client teams, researchers and other technical groups.<\/p>\n<p>Havel said he and former colleague Josh Davis built the fellowship over four years. The program has since brought dozens of new developers into Ethereum\u2019s core development community.<\/p>\n<p>The Foundation had opened applications for the <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.ethereum.org\/2026\/04\/30\/epf-7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">seventh Ethereum Protocol Fellowship cohort<\/a> in April. The available statements did not explain whether the current cohort will continue under another team.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Closure follows wider Foundation layoffs<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The team\u2019s dissolution follows the <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.ethereum.org\/2026\/06\/23\/ef-structure\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Ethereum Foundation\u2019s new organizational structure<\/a>, announced on June 23. The Foundation cut 54 positions, equal to roughly 20% of its workforce, after a months-long review of its activities and spending.<\/p>\n<p>As previously reported by crypto.news, the Foundation reorganized its work into five main areas: protocol, access, user, community and institutional layers. Separate groups handle operations and management.<\/p>\n<p>The Foundation said affected workers would receive severance, career transition support and grants for related expenses. It described the changes as necessary to focus its staff and resources on work that the organization must perform over the coming years.<\/p>\n<p>The latest closure also follows earlier changes to Ethereum\u2019s research and development structure. The Foundation reduced its Protocol Research and Development team in 2025 and renamed the remaining group Protocol.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Core protocol work remains active<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The new protocol cluster remains responsible for Ethereum\u2019s underlying technology. Its stated tasks include shipping upgrades safely, reducing technical complexity and improving privacy, security and censorship resistance.<\/p>\n<p>Ethereum developers are also working on the Glamsterdam upgrade. The planned update includes changes to block construction, data access and network performance, as crypto.news previously reported.<\/p>\n<p>However, the Foundation has not publicly detailed where every Protocol Support responsibility will move. The future management of developer meetings, Forkcast, fellowship programs and EIP support therefore remains unclear.<\/p>\n<p>Protocol development does not depend on one Foundation team because Ethereum client developers, researchers and independent contributors work across several organizations. Still, Protocol Support provided coordination services that connected many of those groups during network upgrades.<\/p>\n<p>    <!-- .cn-block-related-link --><\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Ethereum Foundation has dissolved its Protocol Support team as part of a broader restructuring that recently cut about 20% of the nonprofit\u2019s workforce. Summary Ethereum Foundation dissolved Protocol Support&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16299,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptocurrency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34133"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34134,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34133\/revisions\/34134"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}