The Ethereum Foundation Grants Program is an ongoing and constantly evolving initiative aimed at determining how the EF can optimally allocate the Ethereum community’s assets for the greatest long-term benefit to the Ethereum ecosystem. When the Grants Program commenced in early 2018, the primary concentration was on endorsing scalability endeavors. This emphasis later broadened to encompass security, user-friendliness, privacy, and education.
In 2019, we are reverting to our fundamental focus to bolster critical Eth2.0 and layer 2 scaling endeavors. Nevertheless, we remain receptive to any grant proposal that tackles urgent, significant, and distinctive enhancements that advance the Ethereum vision.
Keeping these priorities in consideration, we are excited to unveil the initial grantees of 2019:
The Matter – Implementing ‘Plasma Ignis’ code, a SNARK-driven “roll up” capable of supporting up to 500 transactions per second.
LeapDAO – ‘Plasma Leap’, a more practical Plasma framework with functionalities akin to smart contracts.
Py-libp2p – A Python version of libp2p intended for use in Eth2.0 research, as well as in various other projects by UPenn seniors completing their capstone project (Zixuan Zhang, Robert Zajac, Alexander Haynes, and Aspyn Palatnick).
Ethereum on ARM – Promoting the decentralization of Ethereum by offering Ethereum client images on resource-limited devices, including an initial exploration into utilizing ARM nodes for Eth2.0 staking.
Goerli testnet – A cross-client testnet led by Chainsafe, widely endorsed by the Ethereum community. Initiated at GörliCon at the end of January.
Shadowlands – A Python-based, TextUI rapid prototyping platform for Eth applications that challenges the notion that everything must be a web application.
DeepSEA – Research conducted at Yale and Columbia to advance their work on DeepSEA, a formally verified language that compiles to the EVM.
Finally, although our general aim is to enhance the transparency of the Grants Program, we have opted not to disclose grant award amounts or a wishlist. These decisions have been made to prevent applicants from being influenced by previous wishlists and funding amounts. Instead, we focus on innovative concepts and precise budgets.
