Ethereum Foundation Cuts 54 Staff, Adopts Five-Cluster Model Amid Validator Tax Backlash

On June 23 the Ethereum Foundation completed its restructuring, cutting 54 employees (20% of staff) and shifting to a five-cluster model focused on protocol development, institutional adoption and efficiency. The move follows strategy chief Bastian Aue’s June 22 plan to eliminate toxic MEV, default privacy features and tie compensation to ETH and native stablecoins. Community backlash has intensified over a proposed 5-10% validator tax expected to raise $62-125M annually, while new independent group ETH Labs launched with backing from Joe Lubin and Bitmine to support a multi-node governance model. ETH traded unchanged at $1,655.73 with over 32% of supply now staked.