Tomasz K. Stańczak will step down as co-executive director of the Ethereum Foundation at the end of February 2026. After the announcement, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin posted a public message on X, crediting Tomasz with making the foundation faster, more responsive, and more willing to move beyond its old comfort zone during his roughly one-year tenure.
Leadership change follows one year in the role
Tomasz announced the move on February 13, 2026. Before joining the Ethereum Foundation in 2025, he was known as the founder of Nethermind, one of Ethereum’s main execution client development teams. At EF, he served alongside Hsiao-Wei as co-executive director.
His exit does not mean a departure from Ethereum. According to the announcement, Tomasz will remain active in the ecosystem and shift his focus to core development, product implementation, and governance work related to agents. The foundation also said Bastian Aue will take over the co-executive director position, describing the transition as a phased adjustment rather than a change in direction.
Vitalik highlights organizational culture and execution speed
In his post, Buterin said Tomasz stood out for his work ethic, his personality, and the organizational culture he had built at Nethermind. He added that Tomasz brought a distinct way of thinking about Ethereum, the nature of blockchains, and how they may fit into the future of the wider world. In Buterin’s telling, that perspective differed from the views commonly seen across crypto debates.
Buterin also tied Tomasz’s tenure to practical changes inside EF. He wrote that Tomasz significantly improved efficiency across many parts of the organization, making the foundation quicker to respond to changes outside its walls. A short stint, but a visible one. He also said Tomasz encouraged the team to take on work that would previously have sat outside its comfort zone.
AI became part of the foundation’s internal thinking
One point Buterin singled out was Tomasz’s push to make the team take seriously the potentially dramatic impact of AI on the blockchain world. The source material does not include a detailed strategy or specific initiatives, but the comment indicates that AI became a more explicit part of how the foundation thinks about Ethereum’s future use cases and priorities.
Buterin closed by saying he looks forward to seeing Tomasz continue doing exciting work both inside and outside Ethereum. The personnel change fits into the Ethereum Foundation’s broader effort to refine governance and internal operations, with attention on execution, adaptability, and room for broader technical discussion.