TLDR
-
Ethereum Foundation dissolves Protocol Support after five years of key work.
-
The team coordinated major upgrades, core developer meetings, and EIP support.
-
Protocol Support helped guide Ethereum through The Merge, Dencun, and Pectra.
-
Its fellowship trained new developers for protocol research and client work.
-
The foundation will divide the former team’s duties across its new structure.
The Ethereum Foundation has dissolved Protocol Support after five years of coordinating major network upgrades and developer programs. The closure follows a wider restructuring that reduced staff and reorganized the foundation into several operating layers. Protocol Support leaves systems that shaped Ethereum’s proof-of-stake transition and subsequent upgrades.
Foundation Restructuring Ends Centralized Coordination
The Ethereum Foundation created Protocol Support in 2021 to connect client teams, researchers, EIP authors, and infrastructure providers. The group organized All Core Developers meetings and tracked technical work before each planned network upgrade. It also helped EIP authors move proposals into discussion, testing, and implementation.
the EF Protocol Support team has been dissolved 🖖
— EF Protocol Support (@EFprotocol) July 9, 2026
The team supported Berlin, London and Arrow Glacier during its early operating period. It then coordinated Rayonism, Amphora, and Kintsugi testnets before Ethereum completed The Merge. That work connected testing schedules, developer meetings and public guidance during the transition from proof-of-work.
Protocol Support later assisted Shapella, Dencun and Pectra while maintaining communication across Ethereum’s development groups. The team also monitored testnet progress and prepared contributors for scheduled mainnet changes. Its coordination reduced gaps between technical decisions, testing work, and community preparation.
Developer Programs Enter New Organizational Structure
The team expanded an early apprenticeship project into the Ethereum Protocol Fellowship for emerging core contributors. The fellowship trained developers in protocol research, testing, and client development across Ethereum’s technical ecosystem. It also connected participants with experienced researchers, client teams, and technical working groups.
Protocol Support maintained Forkcast, which tracked EIPs, testnet launches, upgrade readiness and mainnet activation plans. Developers used the platform to follow changing timelines and technical requirements across several network forks. The project created one public reference point for complex upgrade information.
Former team members confirmed the closure through public posts and invited organizations to contact available developers. Mario Havel remained at the Ethereum Foundation, although the wider team lost its previous structure. Former team lead William Morriss also confirmed that the restructuring ended his foundation role.
Upgrade Duties Move Across Foundation Layers
The foundation announced its latest workforce reduction on June 23 and removed 54 roles. It also reorganized internal operations into protocol, access, user, community, and institutional layers. The changes ended several centralized teams and reassigned responsibilities across the new structure.
The new Protocol Layer will absorb parts of Protocol Support’s former upgrade and coordination duties. Other teams will handle developer training, community communication, and support for Ethereum Improvement Proposals. However, the foundation has not detailed every future assignment for those functions.
Protocol Support now closes after guiding Ethereum through several defining technical milestones. Its work covered network planning, developer coordination, testing support, fellowship programs, and public upgrade tracking. Ethereum’s new structure will carry those duties without the former team’s centralized identity.
