Former Ethereum Foundation Researchers Form Ethlabs

Five former senior Ethereum Foundation researchers announced Ethlabs on June 22. The nonprofit lab says it will focus on research and development to support Ethereum and the ETH asset.

Ethlabs was co-founded by Ansgar Dietrichs, Barnabé Monnot, Caspar Schwarz‑Schilling, Josh Rudolf and Julian Ma. The organization’s launch statement calls ETH “the most valuable, programmable store of value” and lists research into ETH’s monetary properties among its early priorities.

Named backers include BitMine and SharpLink, two firms that manage ETH treasuries, as well as Joseph Lubin, Anchorage, Octant and SNZ. Ethlabs says funders will have accountability but not control over research decisions. The lab’s leadership will set the research agenda, it plans quarterly public reports and intends to subject its finances to independent annual audits.

The announcement follows commentary from a former Foundation contributor, Trent Van Epps, who estimated a potential shortfall in core-protocol funding and outlined annual core development needs at roughly $30 million for client teams, research and coordination. Van Epps wrote that the Foundation’s reduced role could create a funding gap within three to nine months.

Ethlabs’ founders and backers say the lab will address some of the areas Van Epps identified as at risk of underfunding. BitMine reported approximately $258 million in annualized ETH staking revenue in June 2026. That figure exceeds the $30 million annual core-dev estimate Van Epps presented.

Reactions in the Ethereum community were mixed. Joe Lubin described the pattern around Ethlabs as a network of “steward nodes.” Other observers characterized the departures as engineers and researchers forming a new lab while the Ethereum Foundation narrows its mandate. Several former Foundation staff posted critical remarks about internal management: one described sadness at internal dysfunction and another wrote that departing staff continued to support the Foundation’s stated strategy but felt management failed in execution.

On-chain data show Ethereum supports roughly $157 billion in stablecoin market value and about $14.9 billion in active tokenized real-world assets. Stablecoins, tokenized assets and decentralized finance activity are cited by industry participants as use cases that require neutral settlement infrastructure.

Some participants and observers expressed concern that multiple capital-backed organizations funding different pieces of Ethereum’s roadmap could lead to disputes over what counts as core protocol work. Ethlabs and similar groups are the first formally organized efforts by ex-Foundation researchers to take on parts of the research agenda previously associated with the Foundation.

The Ethereum Foundation’s chief strategy advisor published a framework for evaluating and funding spinouts on the same day Ethlabs announced its plans. Ethlabs’ governance statements, the identities of its backers and public funding figures have become focal points in discussions about how Ethereum development and stewardship will be financed and coordinated going forward.