Most Influential: Hsiao-Wei Wang and Tomasz K. Stańczak

Tech Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email Most Influential: Hsiao-Wei Wang and Tomasz K. Stańczak The Ethereum Foundation’s new leaders hope to bring in a new era for the second-largest cryptocurrency. By Margaux Nijkerk | Edited by Cheyenne Ligon Dec 19, 2025, 3:00 p.m. The Ethereum ecosystem underwent something of a short revival in 2025. Early in the year, as many major cryptocurrencies surged to fresh all-time highs, ether lagged behind. Some in the community pointed fingers at Ethereum Foundation’s (EF) leadership, claiming the organization hadn’t done enough to reinvigorate the network’s momentum. STORY CONTINUES BELOW Don't miss another story. Subscribe to the The Protocol Newsletter today . See all newsletters Sign me up By signing up, you will receive emails about CoinDesk products and you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . While the EF doesn’t control Ethereum’s technical roadmap, it remains a central force in supporting the developers and teams who do. So when the organization announced in February that they had tapped two new leaders to guide the EF into its next phase, Tomasz Stańczak and Hsiao-Wei Wang, the move carried weight. Wang, a seven-year EF veteran and core researcher, has contributed across multiple protocol upgrade paths. Stańczak, by contrast, comes from outside the Foundation, having built one of Ethereum’s major software client teams, Nethermind. Together, their appointment signals a hybrid leadership strategy: pairing a deeply embedded protocol researcher with a seasoned builder as Ethereum shifts from an early-stage experiment to global-scale infrastructure. Some in the wider Ethereum community became more enthusiastic as the year went on following the leadership changes, though Wang and Stańczak’s appointment coincided with ETH climbing from a $1,554 bottom in April to an all-time high of $4,886 in August. As of publication, it has retreated to $2806. Since stepping into his role, Stańczak has hosted open community calls, inviting anyone interested to weigh in on the network’s direction. The EF has also rolled out updated roadmaps outlining approaches to privacy, security and the emerging role of AI. Stańczak also told CoinDesk that beyond just meeting with developers and those who steer the blockchain, he’s made an effort as well to meet with traditional institutions, as tokenization and ETFs brought in a new wave of interest into the ecosystem this year. Stańczak recognizes that this year has been a key turning point for Ethereum, and the appointment of these two new leaders marks the beginning of a new chapter for the ecosystem. Ethereum Foundation CoinDesk Most Influential 2025 More For You Protocol Research: GoPlus Security By CoinDesk Research Nov 14, 2025 Commissioned by GoPlus What to know : As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M. GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month. Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B. View Full Report More For You Most Influential: The Solana Developers By Margaux Nijkerk | Edited by Cheyenne Ligon 1 minute ago Solana’s 2025 has proven that its builders and its culture continue to keep its ecosystem in crypto’s cultural zeitgeist. Read full story Latest Crypto News Most Influential: The Solana Developers 1 minute ago Most Influential: Stani Kulechov 1 minute ago DraftKings enters prediction markets with CFTC-approved app for real-world events 6 minutes ago Wall Street bank JPMorgan says stablecoin market could grow to $600 billion by 2028 7 minutes ago CoinDesk 20 Performance Update: Index Jumps 4.6% as All Constituents Trade Higher 47 minutes ago Poland’s lower house approves crypto law again, sends vetoed bill back to Senate 52 minutes ago Top Stories Bitcoin gains as yen surprisingly tumbles after BOJ rate hike: Crypto Daybook Americas 2 hours ago Jump Trading sued for $4 billion in connection to Do Kwon’s Terra Labs collapse: WSJ 3 hours ago Coinbase files lawsuits in 3 states over attempts to regulate prediction markets 4 hours ago Re-litigating the GENIUS Act Brings Risk and No Rewards 1 hour ago What if crypto's U.S. market structure effort just never gets there? 19 hours ago Senate confirms Trump crypto-friendly nominees to take over CFTC, FDIC 13 hours ago