Ethereum Foundation Announces EF Subsidiary Reorganization as Major Hard Fork Glamsterdam Looms
Pushing forward its next major hard fork, “Glamsterdam,” the Ethereum Foundation (EF) announced Monday the formation of “Protocol,” a newly reorganized and streamlined R&D division. The move aims to concentrate resources on core development priorities while marking a significant shift in engineering focus.
Speaking Monday, Protocol Project Coordinator Tim Beiko emphasized the organization’s refocus: “Protocol is now a more united and leaner organization with more focused teams…ensuring the EF’s resources are allocated toward maximal impact.” The goal is to drive development in three key areas.
L1 Scaling & Blob Expansion: Ansgar Dietrichs and Francesco D’Amato lead the teams tackling Layer 1 scaling enhancements, while addressing the utilization and expansion of “blobspace.” Barnabé Monnot and Josh Rudolf spearhead UX improvements.
These new structures directly support the initial goals for Glamsterdam, a major network upgrade focused on enabling the L2-within-an-L2 execution environment. At recent developer calls, proposals like EIP-7732 (ePBS) and EIP-7805 (FOCIL) have been floated, aiming to enhance network efficiency and user experience, critical for scaling.
In a demonstration of immediate priorities following the reorg, Dietrichs recently commented on the AllCoreDevs call: “For Glamsterdam…we will have to find some ways to continue the blob scaling.” He further noted potential Ethereum Layer 2 (EL) scaling contributions are also under consideration.
Redressing long-standing concerns about organizational sprawl, the consolidation is nonetheless accompanied by personnel reductions. While the EF has not specified the number of layoffs, Beiko acknowledged it was a “difficult decision,” expressing gratitude for the individuals’ past contributions.
Value vs. Scaling Tensions Emerge: Not all members of the Ethereum community welcome the change. Developer Micah Zoltu viewed the omission of “censorship resistance, high-priority privacy, and end-user security” as an “incredibly concerning” signal.
In response, Hasu (associated with Flashbots and Lido), suggested the renewed focus on short-term usability, exemplified by blob improvements and user-centric features, is a necessary stepping stone for Ethereum’s scaling ambitions. “More specialization [and] division of labor” between teams is presented as a potentially positive feature.
Zoltu, however, cautioned that superficially prioritizing scaling could marginalize core values unless they are consciously integrated into the decision-making process, such as including FOCIL. “Whether Ethereum preserves its ethos while scaling depends not just on what it builds, but who decides what gets built,” he stated.
The Path to Scaling: The debate highlights the fundamental challenge facing Ethereum: maintaining its decentralized ethos while deploying the technological upgrades necessary for widespread adoption. Cyber Fund articulates this tension, viewing Ethereum not just as a platform but as a pivotal “coordination machine.” Their argument posits that scaling is essential for realizing this potential, but neutrality and sovereignty are imperatives for planetary-scale deployment.
The Protocol reorg is designed, in part, to seek this balance. A key technical shift underlying both Glamsterdam and future upgrades is the leveraging of shared data availability (DA) layers by rollups.
In practice, shared DA lowers friction for cross-chain communication and bridges. However, Cyber Fund cautions that seamless interoperability requires more than just shared availability. It necessitates compatible proof systems and message standards usable across diverse, potentially independent, DA layers – whether Celestia, EigenDA, or others. Robust light clients and proof aggregation will be essential for this.
Shared pool DA streamlines interaction, but remains non-mandatory and may hold particular strategic value for DeFi and financial applications.
Anticipation Builds: As development on Glamsterdam progresses through scoping phases, enthusiasm is building, yet scrutiny remains high. Beiko stressed the high stakes: “Ethereum stands at the edge of major breakthroughs,” he said. “This may be our best shot at deploying not only our technology, but our values, at planetary scale.” The upcoming stages and the demonstrated execution capacity of “Protocol” will determine if this vision materializes into tangible upgrades.
