We are thrilled to reveal the recipients chosen for the recent staking community grants cycle.
This grants cycle welcomed submissions that enhance the Ethereum staking process, making it simpler, safer, and more secure. We were excited to witness all the remarkable proposals from these groups and eagerly anticipate discovering new methods to bolster the ecosystem. Meanwhile, if you are engaged in a project in this arena and require assistance, consider submitting a project inquiry to the Ecosystem Support Program.
Over $1 million has been designated across 25 grants in 4 distinct categories:
| category | amount (USD) |
|---|---|
| community / education | 391,800.00 |
| new tooling | 200,000.00 |
| data analysis / visualization | 180,000.00 |
| research | 268,655.00 |
A few months into Ethereum’s proof-of-stake initiative, it is promising for the vitality of our ecosystem to observe so many worthy teams across such diverse categories.
The largest category this cycle was community / education. Facilitating access to staking is vital for the long-term wellness of the staking ecosystem. Staking communities and educational resources play essential roles in this context, and we are eager to see further advancement in this area, particularly beyond the English-speaking community.
| Grantee(s) | Project | Description |
|---|---|---|
| cadCAD Edu | cadCAD Masterclass: ETH2 Validator Economics | An online course by cadCAD Edu focused on eth2 validator economics. The team will also develop open-source cadCAD validator models for community analysis. |
| Carlos Mesa | How to stake? Spanish Video Guides | Video guides and content pertaining to staking for the Spanish-speaking audience |
| Ching-Yi Lin, Pi-Tan Hu | Eth2xK8s: Ethereum Staking with Kubernetes | Guide for setting up multi-validator configurations using Kubernetes, complete with all necessary configuration files. |
| Coin Cashew | Comprehensive eth2 validator guide | Thorough step-by-step staking tutorials, alongside guides on Grafana dashboards, Docker eth2 installations, and securing validator keys with Ledger |
| Empire Ventures | eth2.academy | An interactive educational tool that connects the informational gaps among the various components of the eth2 ecosystem: from highly technical research to user interactions and everything in between. |
| butta, lamboshi, superphiz, unvetica, worthalter | EthStaker | Support for the EthStaker community to continue developing an online platform and resources for amateur stakers to get started. |
| Jeffrey Milewski | Foundations of Eth2 Economics | An online course and website dedicated to the economics of participation as a validator and the institutional economics of the eth2 protocol |
| Ross Moody | My Journey to Ethereum Staking | An article/guide documenting the journey of learning to stake from a very beginner perspective. |
| Rudy Lu | WeETH Staker | Backing for the eth2 staking and validator community in China |
| Scott Piriou | French Staking Guide for Beginners | A collection of eth2 staking articles tailored for the French-speaking audience. |
| The Ether | The Ether Wiki | A wiki dedicated to eth2 with the aim of instructing and assisting new validators |
| Techtec | PoL | Eth2 educational resources, including staking tutorials, in Japanese |
Just like community and education are essential for getting stakers off the ground, strong open-source tools are crucial in guaranteeing that stakers can operate their nodes reliably and securely. This round showcased predominantly security and orchestration tools, and we eagerly anticipate ongoing innovation in this domain moving ahead.
| Grantee(s) | Project | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Ben Goebel | valid8r | A command-line utility to “validate” a validator’s local configuration. Assess common system and application defaults regarding performance and security of a staking setup. |
| Daniel Streit | Mnemonic Split | A web-based tool and open-source code that employs threshold cryptography to generate ‘K of N’ mnemonics. This will facilitate the secure storage of validator mnemonics. |
| Isaac Agudo | HSM BLS Signer | A standard for an HSM BLS signer built on blst, incorporating open-source code and documentation. This work will assist stakers in managing their keys more securely. |
| Jakub Tomanik | MacSteak | A macOS application designed to simplify the staking process for operators of various skill levels by providing a platform for running Ethereum software on Apple devices. |
| Mara Schmiedt, Alon Muroch, Collin Myers | Eth2 Secret Shared Validators | An audited implementation of a secret-shared validator setup, which is crucial for enhancing validator resilience and diversification on the eth2 network |
Data analysis / visualization
With an increasing amount of ETH staked through the beacon chain, it is becoming more vital to have clarity into the workings and health of the network. The previous year’s Medalla Data Challenge served as substantial evidence of the Ethereum ecosystem’s interest and capabilities in collecting and interpreting network data. The initiatives in this classification further these objectives on the mainnet.
| Grantee(s) | Project | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Bitfly | beaconcha.in | Ongoing development of the beaconcha.in FOSS block explorer, including an open-source mobile application and merge+sharding testnet support. |
| Jim McDonald | chaind | Integration of eth1 deposit tracking within chaind, a utility for gathering and indexing information from active staking nodes. |
| Omni Analytics Group | Ethereum 2.0 Validator Health Tier Tracking | An extension of efforts first presented at the Medalla data challenge: a formal approach to assessing validators based on performance complemented by a web dashboard. |
| pintail | Exploring Validator Rewards and Penalties | A collection of blog articles that clarify validator rewards and penalties using mainnet data. |
Research
Ultimately, there were several research initiatives included in this round. Numerous open research inquiries exist pertaining to staking and the future of the network; we actively encourage further research endeavors in this domain.
| Grantee(s) | Project | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Barcelona Supercomputing Center | Eth2 Network Crawler | Additions to the rumor Eth2 network crawler aimed at enhancing p2p gossip data acquisition. |
| Barcelona Supercomputing Center | Eth2 Client Resource Monitoring | Resource monitoring research and development for each of the four mainnet clients. |
| Diego Losada, Fernando Collado | Ethereum on ARM | Research and development to provide users with a straightforward method for executing a full Eth2 node on ARM devices (like Raspberry Pi 4) |
We are thrilled to monitor these teams in 2021 and into the future, and to observe the broader influence they will exert on the emerging Ethereum staking ecosystem.
The range and excellence of this batch of grants represents a significant indicator for the growing staking community and the Ethereum ecosystem overall. Here’s to the commencement of an excellent year! 🚀
