As we enter a new decade(!), the Ecosystem Support Program team wished to discuss some of the recent advancements, shifts, and lessons learned surrounding the program, and to disclose details of our 2019 financial distributions.
What is ESP?
The Ecosystem Support Program (ESP) functions as a branch of the Ethereum Foundation dedicated to offering assistance to teams throughout the Ethereum ecosystem. This encompasses both financial and non-financial assistance. ESP is essentially an extension of the Grants program, which previously concentrated mainly on monetary support.
Enhancing Our Processes
The 2019 Ethereum Foundation Spring Update initially showcased some of our intentions for transitioning from Grants to ESP. Following that transition, we have continued to issue straightforward grants and facilitated connections to other potential funding sources when an EF grant was not suitable. We have also provided guidance from industry professionals, increased community visibility, and offered access to cloud services and various infrastructure, among other support.
Throughout the past nine months, we have integrated feedback to enhance our application procedure and implemented several changes, including:
- A uniform process for evaluating ESP applications
- A broadened group of domain experts available to assist with peer evaluation of applications or to counsel applicants on their projects
- Heightened emphasis on providing applicants with individualized feedback
- Collaborated more closely with accepted projects to establish clearer objectives, roadmaps, and shared expectations
Enhancing Communications
With these improved processes in place, we are striving to increase visibility and attract a larger number of high-quality applications. To that purpose, we are modifying our communication strategies, ranging from enhancing existing channels to introducing some appealing new pages on the ESP website.
Some alterations are minor, but we hope that they will be beneficial in both keeping the community informed and better equipping potential applicants. On the homepage, you can now stay updated on the latest news regarding ESP and see which events we will be attending, whether virtually or in person during this ongoing health crisis.
We have expanded our FAQ, enhanced our inquiry forms, and most importantly introduced some new page headers that we believe truly enhance the overall presentation 😎. Be on the lookout for further additions in the upcoming months, along with regular updates to our current content!
Additionally, we have included a Wishlist to highlight specific areas such as security, Eth2, and privacy, where we are eager to see more applications. This list is not a proclamation of what is essential to the ecosystem or even an expression of ESP’s priorities. However, we hope this list acts as motivation for those wishing to engage! As always, we aim to maintain a balance between showcasing the range of efforts supported by ESP while also welcoming potential contributors working outside the defined areas.
In terms of reporting, we will be releasing regular blog updates to announce new grant recipients, but a grant is merely the starting point. Moving ahead, we will also highlight what the supported teams go on to achieve. On the new Featured Projects page, we will spotlight projects that are months or years into the work facilitated by those grants. We will also utilize our blog and expand our social media outreach to celebrate grant recipients as they reach milestones and make strides toward their objectives.
Financial Support in 2019
As we strived to enhance the Ecosystem Support Program throughout 2019, we consistently supported projects across the ecosystem. Providing grants is merely one method through which we extend that support. There are numerous remarkable teams that are not EF grant beneficiaries, either because they are already funded or their specific focus does not align with EF funding priorities. Nonetheless, we endeavor to support these essential contributors in every possible way (for example, acting as a bridge to new opportunities or enhancing the network effects for their projects).
That being said, financial support continues to play a significant role in how we assist the broader Ethereum ecosystem. More than 70 projects received financial backing in 2019. The details outlined below specify newly allocated grants to teams in 2019. It does not account for ongoing support, payments for newly attained milestones from previous recipients, or funding for other EF teams. For additional insights into all of the Foundation’s efforts, we will share a Spring Update for 2020 in the coming days.
We are listing names and summaries for each funded project below. A searchable spreadsheet that includes links to discover more about individual projects can be found here.
Ethereum 2.0
Development of Ethereum 2.0 is in full motion, with numerous teams collaborating to enhance Ethereum’s scalability, resilience, security, and of course, introduce Proof of Stake! We have assisted in funding a diverse array of 2.0 clients, as well as initiatives aimed at interoperability, bolstering reliability, and creating developer tools. In addition to the grants detailed below, Ethereum 2.0 work has been supported through recurring funding and other avenues.
Eth2 Clients: $1,695,000
| Grant | Description | More Info |
|---|---|---|
| Harmony Client | Support for the Harmony team in developing a beacon chain client in Java. | https://github.com/harmony-dev/beacon-chain-java |
| Lighthouse | Assistance for Sigma Prime’s ongoing progress of the Lighthouse staking client, developed in Rust, for the Ethereum 2.0 network. | https://lighthouse.sigmaprime.io/ |
| Nimbus | Support for Status’s ongoing advancement of the Nimbus client for Ethereum 2.0, aimed at performing effectively on embedded systems and personal mobile devices, including older smartphones with limited hardware resources. | https://nimbus.team/ |
| Prysm Client | Assistance for Prysmatic Labs’s ongoing development of the Prysm staking client for the Ethereum 2.0 network, crafted in Go. | https://prylabs.net/ |
Eth2 Tools & Additional: $1,459,000
| Grant | Overview | Further Information |
|---|---|---|
| Scholarly inquiry on CBC Casper | Investigation by Ryuya Nakamura from the University of Tokyo and Dominik Harz from Imperial College London to lay down the theoretical groundwork of CBC Casper including analysis of security, efficiency, and incentives. | https://ethresear.ch/u/nrryuya/activity/topics https://eprint.iacr.org/2019/415.pdf https://github.com/LayerXcom/cbc-casper-proof |
| Beacon Fuzz | Differential fuzzer for Phase 0 of Eth2. | https://github.com/sigp/beacon-fuzz/ |
| Cryptonext | Assessment and report on potential strategies for aggregatable post-quantum signatures in Eth2. | https://cryptonext-security.com/ |
| Dmitry Khovratovich | Cryptographic analysis of the Lengendre PRF and Proof of Custody framework. | https://eprint.iacr.org/2019/862.pdf |
| Herumi | Align the Herumi BLS library with the IETF specification. | https://github.com/herumi/mcl |
| Lodestar | Efforts by Chainsafe on Eth2 light-client research and development within their Lodestar javascript client; in addition to consistently supporting the Eth2 JS/web-browser ecosystem by crafting libraries, tools, and learning materials. | http://github.com/ChainSafe/Lodestar |
| Nimbus | Funding to Status, co-financed with Protocol Labs, to construct nim-libp2p, a networking stack in Nim. | https://github.com/status-im/nim-libp2p |
| Runtime Verification | Formal validation of the Eth2 Deposit Contract; developing the Phase 0 Beacon Chain specification in K Framework for the purpose of formal verification; and formally validating Accountable Safety and Plausible Liveness against the K Beacon Chain. | |
| VDF research—hybrid prover | Investigation into the soundness and performance of a hybrid Wesolowski-Pietrzak VDF prover. | |
| VDF: Number Theory Assertion | Demonstrate a number theoretic assertion that indicates an information theoretic lower limit for modular squaring. | |
| Whiteblock | Testing of the Ethereum 2.0 network and support for testnet/interoperability: evaluation of the libp2p gossipsub implementation, collaborating with implementors to enhance the networking stack and specifications, and promoting interoperability initiatives. | https://whiteblock.io/ |
Eth 1.x: $487,000
Essential progress continues on enhancing Ethereum as it stands today, with improvements being pursued by 1.x contributors to aid in enhancing Ethereum in the short term. Key areas of focus include Stateless Ethereum, enhancing developer experience, expanding node client diversity, ensuring that running a complete node remains viable, and laying a foundation for the 2.0 rollout. Similar to Eth2, these are solely the allocations presented in the form of grants. We will provide further updates regarding additional supported initiatives – encompassing Geth, further 1.x and Stateless research, among others in future organizational communications.
Layer 2: $1,211,000
Layer 2 solutions facilitate a broad range of applications that may otherwise be too costly, sluggish, intricate, or simply unfeasible to implement directly on the Ethereum foundational layer. The year 2019 was a thrilling period during which teams and individuals across the community collaborated to achieve significant progress towards enhancing Ethereum’s usability and scalability. This endeavor is vital in the short term, yet equally important for the long term. Eth 2.0 will continue to benefit from the improved privacy, scalability, and adaptability provided by Layer 2.
| Grant | Description | More Info |
|---|---|---|
| Connext | Aligning Connext payment hubs with a general State Channel unification initiative. | https://github.com/ConnextProject/indra, https://connext.network |
| Cryptoeconomics Labs | Plasma Chamber, a general-purpose layer 2 application framework influenced by OVM. | https://www.cryptoeconomicslab.com/ |
| LeapDAO | Plasma Leap: a More Feasible Plasma architecture which enables smart contract execution on plasma using EVM enforcer, a computation verification mechanism that allows for the enforcement of off-chain execution. | https://leapdao.org/ |
| Matter Labs | Productionizing Plasma Ignis, a zk-rollup implementation driven by SNARK. | https://matter-labs.io/ |
| PISA Research | General accountable watchtower mechanism for state channels and decentralized finance protocols, allowing parties to retain an accountable service to monitor the off-chain protocols and on-chain contracts on their behalf. | https://www.pisa.watch/ |
| Plasma Group | Investigation into general plasma, Optimistic Rollup, and OVM (Optimistic Virtual Machine). | https://plasma.group/ |
| Twitch Plays Pokemon on Plasma | Test suite designed for academic institutions and scholars to assess economic and coordination theories of decentralized governance frameworks. | flexdapps.com |
| Unified State Channels | A collaborative grant for Prototypal, Magmo, and L4 research focusing on the integration of State Channels initiatives. Besides combining existing efforts, contributors collaborated to rewrite, optimize, and formally model the foundational protocol; devise a demo application; and create a robust client that offers fund recovery assurances to users. | statechannels.org |
Cryptography and Zero Knowledge Proofs: $426,000
There is more effort than ever being dedicated to the research and development of cryptography and zero knowledge proofs. These initiatives reinforce the foundational elements of the protocol, unlocking new potential for scalability, privacy, and security. The year 2019 was focused on pragmatic advances, with tools being developed that render progress more attainable for developers without necessitating an advanced comprehension of cryptography.
| Grant | Description | More Info |
|---|---|---|
| AirAssembly | Syntax for encoding Algebraic Intermediate Representation (AIR), which renders STARK programming more approachable by facilitating succinct proofs of computational integrity in zk-STARKS. | https://ethresear.ch/t/airassembly-a-low-level-language-for-zk-starks/6419/4 |
| Aztec | Cryptographic structure that supports nested composition of a batch of Aztec range proofs within a zk-SNARK circuit, enabling future advancements in privacy-preserving rollups. | https://www.aztecprotocol.com/ |
| Circom | A durable and scalable language tailored for intricate arithmetic circuit design. | https://github.com/iden3/circom |
| FPGA Snark Prover | Enhancing the efficiency of zk-SNARK proof generation by reallocating operations to an FPGA (field programmable gate array). | |
| Kestrel Institute | ACL2 Ethereum clientand AXE equivalence validator to formally validate cryptographic primitives (including MiMC, PiMC, Edison hash, BLAKE2) relevant to various applications of zk-SNARKS. | https://www.kestrel.edu/home/projects/fv-of-r1cs/index.html |
| Legendre PRF Bounty | The Legendre PRF (pseudo-random function) is necessary to facilitate secret-shared validators through multi-party computations. These bounties promote further exploration of key recovery vulnerabilities, to boost trust in the usage of this cryptographic element. | https://eprint.iacr.org/2019/862.pdf, https://legendreprf.org/bounties |
| MACI | Minimal Anti-Collusion Infrastructure: an anti-collusion framework that significantly raises the risks tied to purchasing or selling votes. | https://github.com/barryWhiteHat/maci |
| Platon | Validation and execution of the “Proof of Custody” method, which enables secret-shared validators via multi-party computation, allowing trustless staking pools along with redundancy to mitigate the risk of slashing due to compromised hardware or software. | https://github.com/PlatONnetwork/proof_of_custody |
| Statebox | Investigation into employing category theory to transform diagrams, securely and compositionally, into zk-SNARK circuits. | www.statebox.org |
Developer Experience: $1,322,000
Ethereum has opened an entirely new design landscape for applications. As developers have delved into this landscape, they have encountered new challenges and necessitated the creation of new tools. We are making significant investments to enhance the developer experience on Ethereum, ranging from expanding the variety of programming languages, software libraries, dev tooling, node infrastructure, decentralized storage, messaging, and more. These enhancements empower developers to achieve more, with greater ease, allowing them to concentrate on their products rather than constructing their own custom tools. Ultimately, our aim is to make building on Ethereum simple – and enjoyable.
| Grant | Description | More Info |
|---|---|---|
| Buidler | Enhancing functionalities for Buidler, a task scheduler for Ethereum smart contract creators. | https://buidler.dev/ |
| DeepSEA | Research being conducted at Yale and Columbia on DeepSEA, a language that generates coq proofs to compile formally verified code for the EVM to ensure no bugs are introduced. | https://certik.org/deepsea_blockchain.html |
| Ethereum on ARM | Customized Linux images to automatically convert resource-constrained devices into complete Ethereum nodes. | https://github.com/diglos/pi-gen (for ARM32 repository, Raspberry Pi 4 image), https://github.com/diglos/userpatches (for ARM64 repository, NanoPC-T4 and RockPro64 image) |
| Moon | EVM and WASM runtimes for the formality language, along with related libraries, documentation, and tutorials. | https://github.com/moonad/, https://sunshinecybernetics.com/, https://github.com/moonad/Formality/blob/master/DOCUMENTATION.md |
| NomicLabs | Research on enhancing developer experience, prioritization, and roadmapping. | https://nomiclabs.io/ |
| Play | Decentralized database for authenticated Solidity code. | https://playproject.io/play-ed/ |
| py-libp2p | Capstone project by four seniors at the University of Pennsylvania to create a python version of libp2p, utilized by IPFS and Eth2, along with user-friendly toolsets | https://github.com/libp2p/py-libp2p |
| Shadowlands | Framework for constructing terminal-based Ethereum applications with a text UI, providing an alternative to applications structured with a web-based UI. | https://github.com/kayagoban/shadowlands |
| Solhint | Progressive enhancement and additional plugins for Solhint, a utility for linting solidity code to uncover poor coding methodologies. | github: https://github.com/protofire/solhint/, Company overview: https://protofire.io |
| Solidity Coverage | Enhancements to the solidity-coverage utility, which offers a method for Solidity developers to evaluate the efficiency of their JavaScript testing frameworks, obtain coverage reports, and more. | https://github.com/sc-forks/solidity-coverage |
| SOLL | Second State’s LLVM based compiler, an alternative to yul designed to facilitate the transition of Solidity to eWASM. | https://github.com/second-state/SOLL, https://www.secondstate.io/ |
| Swarm | Investigating and advancing Swarm, a decentralized storage solution. | https://swarm.ethereum.org/ |
| Tenderly | Enhancements to Buidler’s console.log capability. | https://tenderly.dev/ |
| Web3J | Development and upkeep of the Web3j library to ensure an enhanced experience for Java, Android, and Kotlin programmers. | https://blog.web3labs.com/web3j-ethereum-foundation-grant-update, https://www.web3labs.com/web3j, https://github.com/web3j/web3j |
User Experience: $213,000
We’re consistently seeking universal tools and enhancements that minimize friction for the end user, maintaining decentralization along with the other qualities that define Ethereum. Tackling widespread issues such as gas expenses, identity management, address clarity, and interoperability simplifies the onboarding process for dapp developers everywhere.
| Grant | Description | More Info |
|---|---|---|
| Eauth | Oauth2 compatible authentication service framework based on Ethereum. | https://github.com/pelith/node-eauth-server |
| ENS Foundation | Ongoing funding for the Ethereum Name Service, which serves as a decentralized Internet naming framework on Ethereum. | https://ens.domains/ |
| Ethereum Wallet SDK | Layer of abstraction that enables dapp developers to seamlessly integrate with various wallets. | https://dappsdk.io/ |
| Everest | Identification and credential system that allows for secure publication, sharing, and verification of identity claims such as KYC status on Ethereum Mainnet. | https://everest.org |
| Gas Station Network | Standard for meta transactions and a decentralized array of relay nodes designed to manage gas fees on behalf of users. | https://gasstation.network/ |
| POAP | Subsidy of gas charges for the Proof of Attendance Protocol at Devcon. | http://www.poap.xyz |
Community and Education: $422,000
In straightforward terms, Ethereum could not thrive without its community and the individuals dedicated to nurturing and enhancing our ecosystem. These groups unite people both offline and online, bolster the diversity of our international community, and assist in constructing a comprehensive knowledge repository by making educational resources accessible to all.
Indirect Funding $484,000
A novel type of ecosystem necessitates innovative perspectives on funding! The Ethereum ecosystem is dependent on open-source developers and
“`independent thinkers to prosper. In pursuit of this goal, we aim to facilitate innovative methods of financing skilled contributors beyond the conventional frameworks of corporations and institutions; grants and venture capitalists; contracts and remuneration. This sector focuses on allocating resources to the community.
| Grant | Overview | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|
| Gitcoin | Funding for projects, bounties, and CLR matching. | https://gitcoin.co/ |
| MolochDAO | Funding for the establishment of MolochDAO to broaden development financing. | https://molochdao.com/ |
| UNICEF | ETH and BTC contributions to UNICEF’s Crypto-denominated Fund, aimed at promoting blockchain innovation in developing regions and encouraging the adoption of cryptocurrencies (without converting to fiat). | https://www.unicef.org/ |
We take great pride in what our 2019 cohort achieved, and we are moving forward in 2020 with revitalized enthusiasm and direction. As always, heartfelt thanks to the community for your dedication and support, and we eagerly anticipate keeping you informed about the latest updates from the ESP team! 🦄