The Ethereum Foundation (EF) has overhauled its grants program, shifting from an open application model to a new funding approach under its Ecosystem Support Program.
According to a blog post on Monday, grants will now be distributed through two main channels: a wishlist outlining focus areas set by the Foundation and requests for proposals (RFPs), targeting specific needs within the Ethereum ecosystem.
The previous open grants program, which was paused earlier this year, stretched the Foundation’s resources, it said. The new model will take a more selective approach by coordinating with internal teams to direct funds toward defined ecosystem priorities.
“The previous open grants program successfully supported hundreds of projects that contributed key building blocks across Ethereum,” the Foundation said, adding that the growing volume of applications limited its ability to pursue “strategic opportunities.”
The first round of wishlist items and RFPs is now live and covers areas like cryptography, privacy, security, community growth, and more.
The EF first launched its grants program in 2018 to support builders contributing to the ecosystem. In 2024, 105 projects and initiatives received around $3 million in support, according to the Foundation.
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Ethereum continues to evolve
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.
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