Ethereum Foundation Exodus Continues as Co-Director Hsiao-Wei Wang Departs

Hsiao-Wei Wang, a co-director at the Ethereum Foundation, is stepping away from her post effective immediately, according to a post on social media, marking the latest high-profile departure of Ethereum leadership.

Wang’s announcement follows her sabbatical and the February departure of her fellow co-director, Tomasz Stańczak. Following Stanczak’s exit, Bastian Aue was named interim co-director alongside Wang.

“During my break, Bastian guided the transition with care and thoughtfulness, and I appreciate the work he and many others have put into that process,” Wang said. “Over time, I’ve come to feel that this is the right moment for me to step back.”

Wang’s exit comes just one month after Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin signaled that the Foundation would be transitioning into a “smaller ship,” creating a leaner team with a more narrow, dedicated focus around censorship resistance, privacy, and security. 

But even before Buterin’s message, the Foundation had suffered a handful of notable exits, including top researcher Dankrad Feist, Stanczak, and at least two veteran members of the organization. 

As organizational leadership parted ways, it fueled skepticism about the Foundation’s ability to push the Ethereum ecosystem forward. 

Feist amplified those concerns shortly before Buterin’s mandate in May, suggesting that a new organization needed to be created with at least $1 billion in ETH funding to “save Ethereum.” 

“The community needs to create an organization that’s economically aligned with Ethereum and accountable to it,” he posted on X, adding that it needs “a leader who is competent and wants to fight.”

Tension and uncertainty have surrounded the organization for years, with Buterin noting the Foundation had been in the process of making “large changes” stemming back to early 2025, seeking to better its ties with ecosystem builders and active participants. Attempts at large-scale changes trickled into 2026, when he conceded that Ethereum needed to make “new plans” as it relates to its relationship with layer-2 networks. 

Long chided for its sales of Ethereum,  the EF recently implemented a more transparent treasury policy detailing when it would look to sell ETH, noting that it would seek to “earn acceptable returns on treasury assets.” It began staking the treasury earlier this year with the ultimate goal of staking around 70,000 ETH, or around $119 million worth at today’s ETH prices. 

ETH, the foundation’s key asset, is down around 1.4% in the last 24 hours, recently changing hands at $1,708. At that mark, it has now fallen nearly 66% from its all-time high of $4,946 set less than a year ago in August 2025.

A representative from the Ethereum Foundation did not immediately respond to Decrypt’s request for comment.