Zcash and StarkWare co-founder and StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson posted on X on June 21 to take a stance on the recent turmoil at the Ethereum Foundation. He said: “Ethereum has many advantages, and it also has its own politics.” Within the past five months, at least eight senior figures have left the Ethereum Foundation, including the recent resignation of Xiaowei Wang, co-executive director and a board member.
In the past five months, the Ethereum Foundation has seen at least eight senior staff resign; co-executive director Xiaowei Wang recently stepped down
According to reports, at least eight senior figures have left the Ethereum Foundation within the past five months. Among them, Xiaowei Wang (Xiaowei Wang), co-executive director and a board member, is the latest senior figure to have stepped down. These personnel changes have sparked concerns from outside parties about the stability of Ethereum’s core development system and organization, while at the same time Ethereum faces intensifying competition from other blockchains.
Ben-Sasson’s June 21 statement on X: a neutral stance and three core viewpoints
In his X post, Ben-Sasson clearly stated that his position does not fall into the following three categories: he does not join the camp criticizing the EF, he does not advocate for Ethereum’s doom, and he is not defending Ethereum by saying everything is fine. He positions himself as “a friend of Ethereum,” and as “an L2 lead who has expanded Ethereum for several years,” sharing his views.
He calls for a new system in the future: “I hope the new system that emerges will give a great weight to advantages and technology, and less to consistency. If that were to happen, I would want to cooperate more closely with it.”
Two voices on the funding assessment: Van Epps warns of a crisis in 3-9 months; Tom Lee says the probability is zero
According to reports, there are two sharply opposite assessments regarding the Ethereum Foundation’s funding issues:
Trent Van Epps (former contributor to the Ethereum Foundation): warns that an Ethereum development funding crisis may appear within 3 to 9 months, citing reduced foundation spending and the Customer Incentive Program (CIP) coming to an end
Tom Lee (Tom Lee, chairman of BitMine, known for bullish views on Ethereum): says the probability of an Ethereum funding crisis is “zero”
Both assessments are based on individual positions and have not received an official response from the Ethereum Foundation.
StarkWare’s 2019-2020 journey of technical choices: post-quantum ZK-STARK, now adopted by multiple teams
In the post, Ben-Sasson reviews StarkWare’s technical journey: StarkWare’s first paid project was a post-quantum secure and scalable ZK-STARK system developed in 2019-2020, used for Ethereum scaling and quantum readiness. After that, technical choices included STARKs, zkVM, Cairo, native AA (Account Abstraction), and Bitcoin scaling—choices that at the time were “seen as inconsistent.”
Ben-Sasson said he does not regret these choices: “I’m happy to see many of them now adopted by other teams.” He believes the criteria for judging “consistency” and “inconsistency” are “unnecessary.”
Frequently asked questions
What specific stance did Ben-Sasson take regarding the Ethereum Foundation?
According to Ben-Sasson’s post on X on June 21, 2026, he explicitly said he is neither a critic nor an advocate, but shares views as a “friend of Ethereum.” He acknowledges Ethereum has advantages as well as “its own political issues,” and calls for the new system to place more emphasis on technical competence than ecosystem consistency. He said that if this change is realized, he is willing to cooperate more closely with the Ethereum ecosystem.
How many senior staff members have resigned from the Ethereum Foundation in the past five months?
According to reports, at least eight senior figures have left the Ethereum Foundation within the past five months, including the recent resignation of co-executive director and board member Xiaowei Wang (Xiaowei Wang). “At least eight” is the wording used in the reports; the actual number may be higher.
What are Trent Van Epps’s basis for his funding-crisis warning and Tom Lee’s basis for his rebuttal?
According to reports, Trent Van Epps’s warning is based on two reasons: the Ethereum Foundation’s reduced spending, and the Customer Incentive Program (CIP) coming to an end—he expects the crisis to occur within 3 to 9 months. Tom Lee directly denied it, saying the probability of a crisis is “zero,” but the report did not provide his specific rationale. Both are personal assessments and are not official statements from the Ethereum Foundation.
