The Ethereum Foundation lost five senior contributors between mid-February and mid-May 2026, a quiet but significant reshuffle that includes a sabbatical, a part-time move, and outright departures. The exits span roles from co-executive director to protocol leadership, and they coincide with the foundation's release of a 38-page governance document called the 'Mandate' on March 13, which lays out its core principles.
A string of departures
Tomasz Stańczak stepped down as co-Executive Director on February 13 after only 11 months in the role. Bastian Aue was named interim co-ED. Josh Stark announced his exit as board co-steward on April 16, citing personal reasons and a need to 'reset' after roughly seven years at the EF. Trent Van Epps left on April 10, publicly criticizing leadership's association with the Milady NFT collection as 'baffling and sad' — a rare public rebuke from an outgoing staffer.
On the research side, Barnabé Monnot and Tim Beiko exited the Protocol Cluster in May 2026. Alex Stokes began an open-ended sabbatical. Dankrad Feist had already moved to a part-time advisor role in October 2025, while joining Tempo — a Stripe/Paradigm-backed L1 — as an L1 advisor.
The 'Mandate' and its principles
The foundation's March 13 document runs 38 pages and emphasizes what it calls CROPS principles: censorship resistance, open source, privacy, and security. It also formally adopts the 'Source Seppuku License', a satirical licensing framework that had already been in use informally. Contrary to some secondary coverage, the EF did not author that license; it simply endorsed an existing piece of culture.
The timing isn't great. The Mandate landed in the middle of a leadership churn, which raises questions about how much buy-in the departing staff had — or whether the document is meant to shore up morale after a rough quarter.
Behind the criticism
Van Epps's public blast about the Milady NFT collection is the most pointed internal criticism to surface. He called the association 'baffling and sad'. The EF has not responded publicly. The incident underscores a tension between the foundation's stated principles and some of its cultural ties — a gap the Mandate may try to bridge, but which actions like the Milady association can widen.
New leadership, same questions
The Protocol Cluster, which lost Monnot and Beiko, now has three new co-leads. Alex Stokes's sabbatical leaves a gap, but his return date is open-ended. The foundation has not said whether it will backfill the departures of Stark and Van Epps with permanent hires or rely on interim arrangements. What's clear is that the EF is running leaner at the top, and the Mandate is its best public attempt to explain what it stands for — just as some of its architects walk out the door.
