Ethereum Foundation Researcher Francesco D'Amato Exits After Five Years to Join Ethlabs

According to Francesco D'Amato's July 16 announcement on X, the Ethereum Foundation researcher has left the protocol development team after a five-year tenure to join Ethlabs, an independent nonprofit research lab founded by former Foundation colleagues. D'Amato will focus on reducing Ethereum's transaction finality time, currently around 12 minutes, to match faster Layer 1 settlements.

Ethlabs launched in June 2026 with backing from Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin and other investors. The organization stated that research decisions remain independent despite corporate funding, aiming to prevent backers from steering the technical agenda.