Tomasz stanczak is stepping down as co-executive director of the ethereum foundation (ef) in february 2026, a planned transition with new leadership (bastian aue alongside hsiao-wei) already in place. stanczak will remain within the ethereum ecosystem, focusing on 'agentic ethereum' and decentralized ai, which could be a long-term positive narrative, but the immediate impact of the leadership change itself is minimal due to its planned nature and distant effective date.
The information comes from an official announcement made by tomasz stanczak himself on his x page, detailing his planned departure and future focus, as well as the transition within the ethereum foundation.
While leadership changes can sometimes cause uncertainty, this transition is planned and emphasizes continuity within the ef. stanczak's future focus on 'decentralized ai on ethereum' could introduce a new bullish narrative for eth as a coordination layer for ai, but this is a long-term development. for now, the immediate price impact is neutral.
The leadership change is effective end of february 2026, meaning any direct impact from the transition itself is far off. the potential effects of stanczak's new focus on decentralized ai on ethereum would also be a long-term play, unfolding over months and years.
Cover image via youtu.be Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by our writers are their own and do not represent the views of U.Today. The financial and market information provided on U.Today is intended for informational purposes only. U.Today is not liable for any financial losses incurred while trading cryptocurrencies. Conduct your own research by contacting financial experts before making any investment decisions. We believe that all content is accurate as of the date of publication, but certain offers mentioned may no longer be available. Read U.TODAY on Google News Tomasz Stanczak, co-executive director of the Ethereum Foundation (EF), has announced he is stepping down from the role. In a post for the community on his X page, Stanczak stated that, effective end of February 2026, he would cease to function in his capacity as co-executive director. Advertisement Ethereum Foundation leadership transition According to Stanczak, he is not leaving the Ethereum ecosystem but simply moving into a more technical and builder role. Stanczak clarified that his stepping down will not affect the Ethereum Foundation, as leadership will continue under Hsiao-Wei and Bastian Aue. Notably, Hsiao-Wei is an existing co-executive director, while Aue is a new one taking a leadership position at the Ethereum Foundation. This blend of old and new would likely ensure a smooth leadership transition at EF. I am stepping down from my co-ED role at the EF at the end of February 2026. Bastian Aue is taking over the co-ED role alongside Hsiao-Wei. The future is bright for builders, for Ethereum, for the EF, and for me. I wrote a longer blog post (link below). I will answer all of your… — Tomasz K. Stańczak (@tkstanczak) February 13, 2026 Stanczak assured community members that the Ethereum Foundation is in good hands. He maintained that there was enough talent to ensure progress from where he left off. The soon-to-be former co-executive director dismissed insinuations that the foundation was a mess. A user appreciated Stanczak’s contributions to the EF, noting that within a very short time, he was able to transform the Ethereum Foundation. He noted that Stanczak’s transformation gives credence to his skills as a builder in the Ethereum space. It is worth noting that Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin, in April 2025, also quit his leadership role with the Ethereum Foundation. At the time, Stanczak had stated that Buterin left to focus on performing research and exploration for the network. Stanczak shifts to agentic Ethereum and AI coordination layer Stanczak said he would now focus on building in the agentic Ethereum technologies ecosystem. You Might Also Like Sat, 02/14/2026 - 10:49 XRP up 7%, But $0.80 Price Level Cannot Be Waved Off By Tomiwabold Olajide He believes that the Ethereum blockchain will be the coordination layer for the future of the agentic economy. Many are preparing for an autonomous financial future, and Ethereum appears prepared to set the pace where AI does the thinking, while Ethereum completes settlement and trust. The co-executive director, who will exit the role in about two weeks’ time, is bullish on open-source LLMs and open-source AI agents. Stanczak considers Ethereum the identity, payment and verification layer for those agents. He maintains that Ethereum will handle privacy and security in AI systems. Stanczak is now actively pushing a "decentralized AI on Ethereum" narrative to ensure the success of this new frontier of the financial economy. This signals a shift for Ethereum from a smart contracts platform to a global coordination layer for the AI, finance and autonomous systems. #Ethereum Foundation