The Ethereum Foundation Faces Ongoing Staff Exodus as Researchers Carl Beek and Julian Ma Announce Departures

Huo Xing Finance reports that on May 19, Ethereum Foundation researchers Carl Beek and Julian Ma announced their departures, becoming the latest members of a recent wave of resignations from the Ethereum Foundation. Carl Beek, who spent seven years at the Foundation, contributed to the development of the Beacon Chain and supported Ethereum’s transition to a PoS consensus mechanism in 2020. Julian Ma, who worked at the Foundation for approximately four years, primarily focused on mechanism design, cryptoeconomics, and protocol scaling; he co-authored the FOCIL proposal (EIP-7805) to enhance censorship resistance and helped implement the Fast Confirmation Rule, reducing bridge confirmation times between Layer 2 and Ethereum mainnet to 13 seconds. In recent months, the wave of departures from the Ethereum Foundation has intensified, including former co-executive director Tomasz K. Stańczak, seven-year veteran Josh Stark, and Protocol team members Barnabé Monnot and Tim Beiko. Alex Stokes, former co-lead of the Protocol team, also announced a temporary leave this month. The report notes that since 2025, the Ethereum Foundation has been undergoing continuous organizational restructuring in response to community concerns regarding scaling, execution efficiency, and ecosystem support. Recently, the Foundation has also drawn attention for requiring employees to sign loyalty pledges and controversies surrounding its CROPs (Censorship Resistance, Open Source, Privacy, Security) values.