Ethereum Foundation pivots focus to L1 scaling, frees Vitalik Buterin for research innovation

The Ethereum Foundation (EF) is sharpening its focus on improving the Layer 1 network and enhancing the user experience through a series of upcoming protocol upgrades.

On April 21, Tomasz Stańczak, the incoming co-director at EF, confirmed that the organization is shifting its research priorities. The new focus will center on Layer 1 performance, continued support for Layer 2 expansion, and tackling usability challenges that have persisted in the Ethereum ecosystem.

He stated:

“Within the EF we will shift much of our research effort toward near‑term goals, aiming to address user experience and scaling challenges in the next two protocol upgrades.”

This means the upgrade could unfold across several protocol updates, including Pectra, Fusaka, and Glamsterdam.

Stańczak noted that internal discussions around Ethereum’s roadmap have been extensive and met with strong support from the developer community.

However, he stressed that turning these concepts into live upgrades requires consistent effort from researchers and core developers.

Meanwhile, Stańczak also mentioned that some of Ethereum’s long-term initiatives might arrive earlier than initially projected. He attributed this acceleration to the research community’s growing contributions.

He added:

“We are exploring ways to bring forward projects that currently look three to five years away. Posts from our top researchers help some of them to ship within one or two years through initiatives such as next‑generation execution and consensus layers.”

Vitalik Buterin transitions to research role

As part of recent leadership changes within the Foundation, Stańczak announced that Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum co-founder, will now focus exclusively on research and exploratory work.

According to Stańczak:

“We aimed, among other things, to free more of Vitalik’s time for research and exploration, rather than day‑to‑day coordination or crisis response. Each time Vitalik shares insights or communicates a direction, he accelerates major long‑term breakthroughs.”

Stańczak highlighted that Buterin’s insights have frequently catalyzed progress across critical areas, including zkVM development, RISC-V research, and privacy-enhancing technologies. These contributions, he said, have helped realign Ethereum’s core mission while opening new technical frontiers.

However, Stańczak clarified that Buterin’s proposals are not final decisions. Instead, they are designed to spark conversation and encourage critical community input.

He also stressed the importance of peer review and the freedom to challenge ideas, saying:

“Community review may refine [Buterin’s proposal] significantly or even reject them. We want the same freedom for our other researchers, who show courage by posing difficult questions and suggesting alternative approaches.”

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