Leadership changes, major hard forks, and a renewed focus on scalability, security, and privacy reshaped Ethereum’s roadmap
While Ether’s price action remained subdued for much of 2025, the Ethereum protocol underwent some of its most significant structural and technical changes to date. The year marked a turning point defined by leadership restructuring, consecutive network upgrades, and a clearer long-term vision.
Early 2025 opened with internal debate over governance and direction, leading to a major leadership reorganization. New executive leadership was appointed, research teams were consolidated, and a sharper mission rooted in long-term protocol stewardship was articulated. This reset aimed to refocus Ethereum on core infrastructure rather than short-term narratives.
In May, Ethereum activated Pectra, a combined hard fork introducing eleven protocol changes. Key highlights included account abstraction via EIP-7702, a higher validator stake cap of 2,048 ETH, and expanded blob throughput for Layer 2 scaling. Adoption was swift, with thousands of smart-account authorizations created within days.
Mid-year efforts emphasized protocol security, with a broad initiative identifying attack surfaces and linking user experience directly to network safety. Ethereum’s treasury strategy also evolved, reallocating assets to ensure long-term sustainability.
The rollout of Fusaka in late 2025 marked the start of a twice-yearly upgrade cycle. The upgrade advanced data availability, interoperability planning, and privacy research. Ethereum ended the year with a clearer, more disciplined roadmap despite muted price performance.
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