Josh Stark Resigns From Ethereum Foundation

Josh Stark, a senior executive at the Swiss-based Ethereum Foundation, announced on X that he is resigning after five years with the organization and will take a break to spend time with family and friends. He did not outline future plans and declined further comment when approached by reporters.

Stark joined the foundation in 2019 as part of a special projects team and later moved into a leadership role overseeing major protocol upgrades. He is reported to have been a core member of a senior leadership group to which many staff report. Projects tied to his tenure include The Merge, which shifted Ethereum from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake, and subsequent upgrade work such as Pectra.

The resignation comes amid several recent exits at the foundation. Researcher Danny Ryan, who spent seven years at the organization, submitted a proposal in November 2024 to co-founder Vitalik Buterin proposing a more assertive institutional role for the foundation and offering to lead that change if chosen as executive director. According to people familiar with Ryan’s thinking, his ideas were partly shaped by a brief U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement action in March 2024 that was later dropped. Tomasz Stańczak left a co-executive director role at the end of February. Trent Van Epps, an organizer of the Protocol Guild and a foundation member, announced his resignation on April 16, the same day Stark stepped down.

Ryan’s proposal called for the foundation to take a stronger public stance while maintaining a commitment to decentralization. The proposal and the recent departures have prompted questions about who will set strategy and represent the foundation as Ethereum’s ecosystem continues to grow.

In his X posts, Stark praised the technical achievements of the Ethereum community and wrote, “The Ethereum ecosystem has consistently achieved what many believed was impossible.” He said he plans to step away to spend time with family and friends and offered no additional details when asked by journalists.

Vitalik Buterin has been vocal about trends he sees in parts of the crypto market. He warned on X that prediction markets risk becoming what he called “corposlop,” describing them as addictive, low-quality gambling-style products that prioritize engagement over social or economic value. He added, “There’s nothing inherently wrong with earning money from people who make poor decisions, but relying too heavily on that approach is problematic.”

Founded in 2014, the Ethereum Foundation is a Swiss nonprofit that supports core research, development and community work for the Ethereum network. The foundation has led key protocol upgrades and efforts to expand the network’s user base. The recent string of leadership exits has renewed attention on the foundation’s leadership and future public role.