Bitmine, Sharplink and Joe Lubin back Ethereum R&D nonprofit

Former Ethereum Foundation contributors and Ether treasury firms Bitmine and Sharplink have backed a new research and development nonprofit that aims to make Ethereum ready for institutional use.

Sharplink said on Monday that the organization, Ethlabs, was formed to “ready Ethereum for the next phase of institutional adoption,” with the company pitching in with Bitmine, Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin and other Ethereum contributors on its funding effort.

“As stablecoins, tokenized real-world assets, funds and autonomous AI commerce move on-chain, they are converging on Ethereum as the neutral, credibly permissionless settlement layer for the global economy,” Sharplink said. “Ethlabs exists to ensure the network is ready to absorb that demand at scale.”

The launch comes days after former Ethereum Foundation contributor Trenton Van Epps warned that Ethereum is facing a core development funding crisis and amid an ongoing wave of departures from the Foundation, most recently co-executive director Hsiao-Wei Wang, who left last week.

Source: Ethlabs

Sharplinks announcement said Ethlabs brings together “technologists who have guided the network through its most consequential upgrades over the past decade. This initiative gives that work a dedicated institutional home with stable, long-term funding.”

Ethlabs was co-founded by five former senior Ethereum Foundation researchers: Ansgar Dietrichs, Barnabé Monnot, Caspar Schwarz-Schilling, Josh Rudolf and Julian Ma.

Lubin said in a statement that Ethereum “is entering its next stage of evolution” and that there should be “a number of steward nodes of Ethereum” that should work to grow the utilization of the blockchain.

“By providing a long-term, independent home to researchers and developers advancing Ethereums core technology and values, Ethlabs will be instrumental in preparing the network for the next major wave of adoption,” he added.

Ethereum Foundation crisis deepens

In May, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said the Ethereum Foundations resources were limited, noting that the organization only held about 0.16% of the total supply of Ether (ETH).

Former EF contributor Trenton Van Epps warned last week that Ethereum risks entering a “slow-burning funding crisis,” amid continued selling of the asset by the Foundation.

“The EF is intentionally leaving a power vacuum for new structures to step up and influence the direction of Ethereum,” said Ethereum educator David Hoffman. “I think the Ethlabs direction holds the brightest future for Ethereum.”

Ether is trading 65% down from its peak at around $1,700, levels last seen in October 2023 and April 2025, as sentiment remains at crypto winter lows.