The Ethereum Foundation (EF) has redesigned its grants program, moving away from an open application model to a focused funding system under its Ecosystem Support Program.
The new approach distributes grants through two channels: a Foundation-curated wishlist of priority areas and targeted requests for proposals (RFPs) addressing specific ecosystem needs.
Shift From Open Grants to Strategic Funding
Earlier this year, the Foundation paused its open grants program, citing stretched resources due to high application volume. Under the revamped model, the EF coordinates with internal teams to allocate funds toward clearly defined ecosystem priorities.
“The previous open grants program successfully supported hundreds of projects that contributed key building blocks across Ethereum,” the Foundation said in a blog post on Monday. However, it noted the increasing volume of applications limited the ability to pursue strategic opportunities.
New Wishlist and RFP Process
The first round of wishlist items and RFPs is now active, covering areas such as cryptography, privacy, security, and community growth.
Since launching the grants program in 2018, the EF has supported builders across the Ethereum ecosystem. In 2024 alone, it has funded 105 projects and initiatives with approximately $3 million.
Ethereum Network Progress
The announcement follows the Fusaka upgrade going live on Ethereum’s final testnet, Hoodi, less than a week ago.
Fusaka implements several Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs), including EIP-7594 (PeerDAS), which allows validators to retrieve smaller data segments from layer-2 networks instead of full blobs. This change improves node performance and scalability.
Additional EIPs 7825 and 7935 aim to increase the gas limit and optimize performance to support Ethereum’s transition to parallel transaction execution, a key milestone enabling multiple transactions to run simultaneously.
The Fusaka fork has already launched on Holesky and Sepolia testnets and is slated for mainnet deployment on December 3.
Earlier this year, on May 7, Ethereum completed the Pectra upgrade, which enhanced staking efficiency and introduced wallet improvements to enhance user experience.
