Hsiao-Wei Wang stepped down as co-executive director and board member of the Ethereum Foundation on June 18, with the resignation taking effect immediately. This is the second co-ED departure in around four months, further highlighting concerns about instability in the Foundation’s leadership as it approaches a major protocol upgrade cycle.
Her exit occurred the same day former Ethereum Foundation contributor Trent Van Epps published a detailed warning about a potential funding crunch in Ethereum’s core development ecosystem. He estimated that within three to nine months, the network could face an annual shortfall of roughly $30 million, with no clear replacement funding structure currently in place.
Wang thanked Bastian Aue for handling the transition during her previous sabbatical. Aue had earlier served as interim co-executive director after Tomasz Stańczak stepped down in February and is now effectively the sole executive director of the Foundation. No successor plan or revised leadership structure has been announced.
At the time of reporting, ETH was trading near $1,690, down about 3.3% on the day, largely reflecting broader market weakness rather than any direct reaction to Wang’s departure. The central issue is not price movement, but whether the Ethereum Foundation can stabilize its leadership and funding systems before existing gaps widen further.
Van Epps, who was at the Ethereum Foundation from May 2021 to April 2026, worked on core development coordination and Protocol Guild funding. His firsthand involvement in these mechanisms gives additional weight to his warning about the upcoming funding gap.
He described a $30 million annual funding shortfall affecting client teams, researchers, and coordination groups responsible for Ethereum’s protocol upgrades and network reliability. According to him, this pressure is driven by two key developments.
First, the Client Incentive Program ended in April 2026 without any replacement. Introduced in 2021, it provided structured incentives for teams maintaining essential Ethereum clients such as Geth, Erigon, and Lighthouse, with payouts tied to ongoing contributions.
Its expiration removed one of the few consistent, predictable funding streams outside Ethereum Foundation grants.
Second, the Ethereum Foundation has adopted a long-term treasury strategy aimed at reducing annual spending from 15% of holdings to about 5% by 2030. While this improves long-term financial sustainability, it also creates a near-term funding gap before alternative mechanisms are established.
Although Q1 2026 grants continued to support major infrastructure teams, Van Epps argues that irregular grant cycles cannot fully replace the stability once provided by the Client Incentive Program.
Without a new funding solution in the near future, teams working on execution and consensus clients could face tighter resources, potentially affecting timelines for the upcoming Glamsterdam upgrade. He also warns that long-term initiatives like quantum security research and Layer 1 scaling are often the first to be reduced when funding becomes uncertain.
Wang and Stańczak were appointed co-executive directors in March 2025 as part of a broader governance restructuring after Aya Miyaguchi moved into a president role. Both have since left within roughly 15 months.
Reports suggest the Ethereum Foundation has seen around 19 departures in 2026, including multiple senior contributors linked to the Protocol Cluster such as Barnabé Monnot, Tim Beiko, and Alex Stokes. While each exit may have individual reasons, the overall pattern points to broader structural and organizational strain.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin acknowledged Wang’s departure publicly, describing her as a long-term contributor and highlighting her work in Ethereum research, consensus development, and community coordination in Taipei.
