# L2 Developer Eclipse Labs Slashes 65% of Staff *Author: Bankless* *Published: Aug 26, 2025* *Source: https://www.bankless.com/read/l2eclipse-labs-slashes-65-of-staff* --- Eclipse Labs replaced its CEO and laid off 65% of its workforce as the startup publicly signaled a strategy shift toward development of consumer-facing applications on its Ethereum-connected Layer 2 chain. ### What’s the Scoop? - **Leadership Change:** Product Lead Sydney Huang (aka 0xSydney) replaced Vijay Chetty as CEO following Chetty’s voluntary departure. - **New Direction:** Eclipse will prioritize building a flagship app on its Solana VM-based L2, pivoting away from pure infrastructure. - **Token Drop Fallout:** The announcement comes just weeks after Eclipse's token launch, with the ES token down over 65% from its TGE. - **Chain Still Active:** Despite layoffs, Eclipse says it will continue improving its core rollup while reallocating resources to in-house development. > Today, Eclipse Labs announced team and leadership changes to align with a new direction post-TGE. Over the past months, we’ve explored opportunities for application development on the network. Going forward, we’ll prioritize building a breakout application on top of Eclipse’s L2…— Eclipse (🐮,🌑) (@EclipseFND) [August 25, 2025](https://twitter.com/EclipseFND/status/1960013657116684769?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) --- *This article is brought to you by [MetaMask](https://www.bankless.com/sponsor/metamask-1776260643?ref=read/l2eclipse-labs-slashes-65-of-staff)*