Ethereum core developers representing various client teams recently convened for a semi-regular interop gathering in the remote arctic setting of Svalbard, Norway. Over the course of the intensive week-long event, the engineering teams concentrated their efforts on technical hardening, alignment, and rigorous preparation for the network’s upcoming upgrade cycle, known as Glamsterdam.
The gathering served as a critical crucible for technical coordination, bringing together key contributors to test assumptions, evaluate implementation details, and iron out cross-client interoperability hurdles. Beyond the heavy engineering focus dedicated to the Glamsterdam roadmap, the Svalbard meeting also marked a significant organizational milestone for the ecosystem: the official commencement of a leadership transition for the Ethereum Foundation’s Protocol cluster. This handoff of responsibilities introduces a new trio of coordinators tasked with guiding the core protocol’s development trajectory moving forward.
Team Evolution and the Foundation Laid by Outgoing Leadership
The leadership transition follows a transformative year for the Ethereum Foundation Protocol cluster, which was initially announced to the broader community in June 2025. Over the past twelve months, the cluster has operated under the dedicated guidance of Barnabé Monnot, Tim Beiko, and Alex Stokes. These outgoing leaders have poured an immense amount of effort, strategic foresight, and operational coordination into the Ethereum ecosystem, leaving an indelible mark on how core research and engineering are structured.
While Barnabé Monnot and Tim Beiko are scheduled to move on from the Ethereum Foundation in the near future, and Alex Stokes is set to take a well-deserved sabbatical, the Protocol cluster as it exists today is in large part a direct result of their vision and tireless work. Under their collective coordination, the Protocol group successfully established structured operational tracks and helped steer the complex Fusaka upgrade to mainnet in December 2025. The Fusaka activation was a major milestone for the network, successfully introducing PeerDAS (Peer Data Availability Sampling) and raising the mainnet gas limit as part of a broader, deliberate strategy on the path toward scaling transaction throughput to 200 million gas and beyond.
The influence of Tim, Barnabé, and Alex extends far beyond their immediate administrative duties. They have shaped the internal culture and operational framework of the Protocol cluster in ways that will outlast their tenure as coordinators. The broader Ethereum community and their fellow developers have expressed deep gratitude for their foundational contributions, and ecosystem participants are looking forward to seeing what each of them takes on next in their respective professional journeys.
Introducing the New Protocol Cluster Coordinators
The team changes and leadership handoff are already well underway. The interop gathering in Svalbard provided an ideal backdrop for this evolution, playing host to several impromptu strategic meetings and collaborative conversations between the incoming and outgoing leadership groups. Crucially, this transition was managed smoothly without causing any distraction from the core mission of hardening and shipping the Glamsterdam upgrade.
Taking the reins of the Protocol cluster are three established figures from within the Ethereum core research and engineering community: Will Corcoran, Kev Wedderburn, and Fredrik. Each brings a distinct set of operational experiences and technical proficiencies to their new roles.
Will Corcoran steps into the coordinator position having previously served as a Research Coordinator within the Protocol group. Through his extensive work on advanced technical initiatives—such as zero-knowledge virtual machine (zkVM) proving, post-quantum consensus mechanisms, and the Fast Confirmation Rule—Corcoran has cultivated broad cross-team and cross-cluster visibility. He is already well-known to many in the community for having facilitated numerous community calls, technical breakout rooms, and in-person protocol events, giving him a deeply practical, operational understanding of how the various moving parts of Protocol’s efforts interconnect.
Kev Wedderburn brings profound technical expertise at the intersection of core research and practical engineering. As the lead of the zkEVM team, Wedderburn has consistently applied a first-principles approach to complex technical decision-making, a mindset that will be vital as the protocol navigates upcoming cryptographic and execution-layer upgrades.
Fredrik rounds out the new leadership trio. He leads Protocol Security and spearheads the Trillion Dollar Security initiative, while also maintaining a long history of deep involvement in cross-cluster collaborative efforts. His extensive background in security and system resilience ensures that protocol-level risk management remains front and center as the network evolves.
What to Expect on the Horizon
With the leadership transition formally underway, the immediate operational focus for the Protocol cluster remains sharply fixed on delivering the Glamsterdam upgrade. Development networks, or devnets, for Glamsterdam are already live, allowing client teams to test implementations, run simulations, and catch edge cases in a live, multi-client environment.
Looking slightly further ahead, scoping and preparatory work for the subsequent upgrade, known as Hegotä , are also well underway. Notably, FOCIL (Fork-Choice Enforced Inclusion Lists) is currently scheduled for inclusion as a headliner feature on the consensus layer (CL) side of the Hegotä upgrade. Meanwhile, long-term architectural planning continues to advance through the ongoing refinement of the Strawmap.
As the Protocol cluster navigates this significant operational handoff while pushing forward with major protocol upgrades, community members and developers can expect further updates and communications from Will Corcoran, Kev Wedderburn, and Fredrik in the coming weeks.
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