$ETH

Two more Ethereum Foundation researchers — Carl Beek and Julian Ma — announced their exits this week. Eight senior researchers and leaders have now left the organization in 2026, with five departures happening in May alone. Former Ethereum Foundation researcher Dankrad Feist proposed creating an entirely new institution with at least $1 billion in funding explicitly tasked with protecting Ether's competitive position and price.

Eight exits in five months. A prominent researcher proposing to build a replacement institution. These are not routine departures. ETH is down 29% year-to-date. The SEC tokenized stocks delay is a direct ETH story — Ethereum leads all chains in RWA at $12.3 billion. The framework designed to extend that lead just got shelved. Glamsterdam must deliver.