Josh Stark, a member of the EF’s leadership team, and Trent Van Epps both separately announced this week that they are leaving the foundation after five years.
Josh Stark, a member of the management team at the Ethereum Foundation, announced on X today, April 16, that he will leave the foundation at the end of this month.
Stark’s announcement comes just a day after another EF contributor, Trent Van Epps, also revealed his departure, writing that he left the foundation last week.
Both Stark and Van Epps are leaving the Ethereum Foundation after five years, per their X posts. Stark, who is also the co-founder of Ethereum hackathon and event project ETHGlobal, did not give an explicit reason for the departure, noting in his post that he is not immediately moving to another project. Stark also had only positive remarks about the foundation and the broader Ethereum ecosystem, writing:
“Working for Ethereum at the Ethereum Foundation has been a great honour. I’m proud to have worked with great people inside and outside of the EF, and proud of what our community has accomplished together.”
Stark also expressed gratitude to other members of EF leadership, adding, “We share a vision and a set of values that mean I will always be your ally and your friend.”
Van Epps’ announcement was more laconic, but was also positive, stating:
“nothing but respect for the brilliant people i worked with over the last 5 years on network upgrades + funding efforts”
Van Epps added that he will continue his work with Protocol Guild, where he is a key member and organizer. Protocol Guild is an independent funding organization that supports 187 Ethereum core developers and researchers.
While not a direct comment on the reason for his departure, earlier this week, Van Epps expressed disdain for the Ethereum leadership’s association with controversial NFT collection Milady, describing it as “baffling and sad”.
EF Leadership Shakeups
The departures of Stark and Van Epps are the latest in a string of significant leadership shifts at the Ethereum Foundation that have unfolded over the past year or so.
The turbulence began amid mounting community frustration over ETH’s prolonged market underperformance, which fueled calls for sweeping changes at the top of the organization. In February 2025, long-serving Executive Director Aya Miyaguchi — who had held the role for seven years — stepped back to become President of the Foundation, with Hsiao-Wei Wang and Tomasz Stańczak appointed as co-executive directors in her place a month later.
The reshuffle was accompanied by a simplified new roadmap refocusing the EF’s priorities on scaling the Layer 1, increasing blob capacity, and improving user experience across the ecosystem.
Less than a year later, Stańczak, one of the two newly appointed co-executive directors, announced his own departure from the foundation, adding another layer of instability to an organization already navigating a difficult transition.
Last month, the foundation published its EF Mandate — a 38-page document described as part constitution, part manifesto — reaffirming its identity as a steward rather than a controller of Ethereum. The Mandate, and specifically subsequent rumors that EF employees were required to pledge their allegiance to it, kicked off a new wave of controversy for the org.
This article was written with the assistance of AI workflows. All our stories are curated, edited and fact-checked by a human.
