Former Ethereum Foundation researchers have launched Ethlabs, a nonprofit backed by Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin as well as the two largest ETH treasury firms, Bitmine Immersion Technologies and SharpLink, to help prepare the network for its "next phase" of institutional adoption.

"As stablecoins, tokenized real-world assets, funds and autonomous AI commerce move onchain, they are converging on Ethereum," according to a statement. "Ethlabs exists to ensure the network is ready to absorb that demand at scale, advancing a faster Ethereum with trustworthy interoperability, so institutions building on Ethereum can do so with the neutrality, resilience, privacy and security they require."

Ethlabs' launch could eventually play a major role in how the Ethereum ecosystem evolves in the years to come. While the Ethereum Foundation has historically been the network's primary backer and coordinator of research, with the formation of Ethlabs, both significant ETH holders and ecosystem contributors have come together to form an independent organization tasked with shaping the network's future.

Five former senior Ethereum Foundation researchers co-founded Ethlabs, according to Monday's statement. The researchers are "technologists who have guided the network through its most consequential upgrades over the past decade," Ethlabs also said.

The Ethereum Foundation has historically been a lightning rod for controversy, including from ETH holders and community members who argue the organization has failed to maintain a competitive footing. The organization has also raised concerns after the recent departure of several high-ranking members, including the foundation's two co-executive directors and the leadership of the major Protocol Cluster.

“Ethereum is entering its next stage of evolution," Lubin said in Ethlabs' statement. "We are now poised to recognize and implement the idea that there should be a number of steward nodes of Ethereum, each configured in their unique way to evolve and protect what is sacred about the network and massively grow the world’s appreciation and utilization of it."

Initially, Ethlabs's work will focus on what institutions need to move onchain at scale, the nonprofit said.

Lubin previously told The Block that there was a plan for several organizations to spin out of the Ethereum Foundation, which announced a singular focus on supporting censorship resistance, open source, privacy and security (CROPS) technologies via a mandate earlier this year. These other organizations will focus on areas like usability and scalability as well as institutional outreach. 

Ethlab backers Bitmine and Sharplink are the two largest publicly-traded Ethereum digital asset treasuries, with holdings of roughly 5.7 million and 876,000 ETH tokens, respectively. 

Bitmine Chairman Tom Lee struck an optimistic tone on Monday. "Ethereum is positioned to grow significantly in adoption by institutions and by AI agents," he said. "And naturally, the ecosystem needs to dramatically expand its investment in talent and research to support this growth."