In a strategic shift that’s likely to ripple through the Ethereum infrastructure community, Eigen Labs, the developer team behind Ethereum’s EigenLayer restaking protocol, has announced a significant workforce reduction.
Roughly 25% of its employees, or 29 staff members, were laid off this week as the company doubled down on its newest initiative: EigenCloud.
Refocusing on one ambitious goal
The layoffs were confirmed Tuesday by Blockworks, with Eigen Labs CEO Sreeram Kannan addressing the move publicly in a post on X.
“This morning, I shared plans for a restructuring of the company, streamlining our operations, and concentrating our efforts on building and scaling EigenCloud,” Kannan wrote.
He acknowledged the difficult nature of the decision but emphasized the need for a tighter strategy around what he called a “single, ambitious goal.”
Those affected will receive exit packages that include accelerated token vesting, extended healthcare, and assistance with finding new roles in the broader crypto and tech ecosystems.
Kannan also opened up his DMs to employers interested in connecting with outgoing staff. “We are doing our best to support you,” he added.
What Is EigenCloud?
EigenCloud is the company’s new flagship product.
Launched just last month, it combines three core services, EigenDA for data availability, EigenVerify for dispute resolution, and EigenCompute for execution, into a programmable, modular cloud infrastructure built with verifiability at its core.
The company says the platform is designed to enable developers to create trustless applications that function like traditional Web2 software but with Web3-level transparency.
With EigenLayer already established in the Ethereum restaking space, the new focus on EigenCloud signals a pivot toward broader infrastructure ambitions.
By betting on a verifiable cloud model, Eigen Labs appears to be aligning itself with the next generation of decentralized application tooling, one where blockchain-backed guarantees meet familiar developer workflows.
As Kannan summed it up: “Today, we focus on supporting our teams… but tomorrow we return more focused, more aligned, and ready to build what’s next.”
