Ethereum Foundation prioritises user experience and Layer-1 scaling

The Ethereum Foundation has shifted its focus to improving user experience and layer-1 scaling solutions following a leadership restructuring in March, according to co-executive director Tomasz Stańczak.

Stańczak stated in an April 21 post that the reorganisation aims to free co-founder Vitalik Buterin from day-to-day operations, allowing him to concentrate on long-term research.

“Each time Vitalik shares insights or communicates a direction, he accelerates major long‑term breakthroughs,” Stańczak wrote.

Buterin has since published proposals addressing Ethereum’s (CRYPTO:ETH) privacy and efficiency challenges.

On April 11, he outlined a privacy roadmap suggesting default anonymity for transactions.

Nine days later, he proposed modifying the Ethereum Virtual Machine’s contract language to enhance execution speed.

The foundation’s revised strategy emphasises “near-term” protocol upgrades, including layer-1 scaling and interoperability improvements in upcoming Pectra, Fusaka, and Glamsterdam updates.

Stańczak noted these changes will target user experience while maintaining support for layer-2 scaling solutions.

March’s leadership changes saw Stańczak and core researcher Hsiao-Wei Wang appointed as co-directors.

The restructuring allows Buterin to focus on exploratory research, with his proposals serving as conversation starters rather than directives.

“The community can either refine or reject the ideas,” Stańczak clarified.

The foundation continues to balance immediate upgrades with long-term innovation, exploring next-generation execution and consensus layers that could materialise within one or two years.

Stańczak highlighted that researcher-led initiatives remain critical for sustaining Ethereum’s development pipeline.

Buterin’s recent contributions include advocating for stealth address systems to anonymise transactions and optimising the EVM’s code structure.

These proposals align with Ethereum’s broader goals of competing with faster blockchains while maintaining decentralisation.

The leadership shift occurs as Ethereum faces scalability debates, particularly after Solana briefly surpassed its staking market capitalisation in April.

Protocol upgrades aim to address these challenges while improving accessibility for mainstream users.

Stańczak emphasised that the foundation’s restructured approach ensures “progress in different research areas” without overcentralising decision-making.

The organisation has not publicly commented further on its roadmap as of publication.

At the time of reporting, the Ethereum (ETH) price was $1,576.87.