The Ethereum Foundation is losing two more senior researchers. Carl Beek, who spent seven years working on the Beacon Chain and the proof-of-stake transition, will leave on May 29. Julian Ma, a four-year contributor behind the FOCIL censorship-resistance mechanism and the Fast Confirmation Rule that slashes L2-to-mainnet bridging to 13 seconds, is also exiting. They join a growing list of departures: Barnabé Monnot, Tim Beiko, Josh Stark have left, and Alex Stokes is taking a sabbatical.
The exodus continues
This isn't a trickle — it's a wave. The EF has seen a steady outflow of technical talent over the past year. Most of the departing researchers aren't leaving the ecosystem entirely. Dankrad Feist, for example, moved to Tempo; Tomasz Stańczak served briefly as co-executive director. They're staying on as advisors or external contributors. But the Foundation itself is getting leaner.
What they built
Beek's fingerprints are all over Ethereum's switch to proof-of-stake. He worked on the Beacon Chain from its early days, helping shepherd the network through the Merge. Ma focused on the cutting edge: FOCIL (EIP-7805) aims to make block production censorship-resistant, and his Fast Confirmation Rule cuts the wait time for moving assets from L2 to mainnet from minutes to 13 seconds. That kind of work doesn't get headlines, but it matters for the network's competitiveness.
Tom Lee's take
Fundstrat's Tom Lee isn't worried. He called the governance turbulence short-term noise and remains bullish on ETH for 2026, pointing to Spot ETF inflows, Layer-2 fee revenue, and the narrative of ETH as an 'Internet Bond'. In a tweet excerpt, Lee said markets are about to enter a parabolic movement in a way never seen before. Whether or not that holds, institutional appetite for ETH seems real: Spot ETF products have drawn sustained inflows since approval.
EF's new structure
The departures are partly a consequence of the restructuring Vitalik Buterin pushed through in 2025. The Foundation moved away from owning the top-down roadmap. It's now a focused research and grants hub, with execution pushed to client teams and external organizations. The new Protocol Cluster leads — Will Corcoran, Kev Wedderburn, and Fredrik — are the ones expected to carry that work forward. But losing four senior researchers and one sabbatical in a short stretch raises questions about how much institutional knowledge is walking out the door.
The next concrete test will be how quickly the new cluster leads can absorb the work left behind. Beek's last day is May 29 — that's ten days away.
