Ethereum Foundation Overhauls Grants Program
The Ethereum Foundation (EF) has significantly revamped its grants program, moving away from an open application model to a more focused funding strategy under the Ecosystem Support Program. This change reflects the Foundation's commitment to allocating resources more strategically and efficiently to support the growth and evolution of the Ethereum network.
New Funding Channels
According to a blog post released on Monday, grants will now be distributed through two primary channels:
- Wishlist: This outlines specific areas of focus identified by the Foundation, directing funding towards initiatives that align with its strategic priorities.
- Requests for Proposals (RFPs): These target specific needs within the Ethereum ecosystem, soliciting proposals for innovative solutions.
Shifting from Open Grants Model
The Foundation acknowledged that the previous open grants program, which was paused earlier this year, strained its resources. The new model will adopt a more selective approach by coordinating with internal teams to channel funds toward defined ecosystem priorities. While the Foundation stated that the previous program successfully supported hundreds of projects that contributed key building blocks across Ethereum, the growing volume of applications limited its ability to pursue strategic opportunities.
Current Focus Areas
The first round of wishlist items and RFPs is now live, covering areas such as cryptography, privacy, security, community growth, and more. This initial rollout represents a concerted effort to address critical areas within the Ethereum ecosystem and foster innovation.
History of the Grants Program
The EF first launched its grants program in 2018 to support builders contributing to the ecosystem. In 2024, 105 projects and initiatives received approximately $3 million in support, according to the Foundation.
Ethereum's Continuous Evolution
The news of the revamped grants program comes less than a week after the Fusaka upgrade went live on Ethereum’s final testnet, Hoodi. The Fusaka upgrade introduces several Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs), including EIP-7594, or PeerDAS, which enables validators to access smaller data segments from layer-2 networks instead of entire blobs, thereby enhancing node performance and scalability. It also includes EIPs 7825 and 7935, which aim to raise the gas limit and enhance performance as Ethereum moves toward parallel execution, a critical part of the blockchain’s roadmap that will allow multiple transactions to run at once. The fork previously went live on Holesky and Sepolia testnets and is expected to launch on mainnet on Dec. 3. Ethereum’s last major upgrade, Pectra, which enhanced staking efficiency and introduced wallet improvements for user experience, was successfully launched on May 7.
