According to an announcement on June 22, five former Ethereum Foundation researchers—Ansgar Dietrichs, Barnabé Monnot, Caspar Schwarz-Schilling, Josh Rudolf, and Julian Ma—launched Ethlabs, an independent nonprofit research and development organization focused on advancing Ethereum's core technology for institutional adoption. Backers include Joe Lubin, Bitmine, SharpLink, Anchorage Digital, Octant, and SNZ.
Ethlabs plans to concentrate on improving transaction settlement speeds, expanding network capacity, and developing infrastructure for institutional applications such as stablecoins and tokenized assets. The organization operates under an independent nonprofit model where funders receive transparency but hold no authority over research agendas or technical priorities.