The Ethereum Foundation has announced a significant commitment of $32.65 million in grants through its Ecosystem Support Program (EFESP) for the first quarter of 2025. The funding targets key sectors including community and education, consensus layers, cryptography, and zero-knowledge proofs, as well as developer experience, execution layers, and overall ecosystem support.
Among the allocations, the largest share supported 'Community and Education,' funding 37 projects to promote global Ethereum events, educational initiatives, and hackathons. Substantial support also went to cryptography and zero-knowledge technology projects, strengthening research on advanced cryptography and post-quantum security. Grants for consensus and execution layers aimed to enhance the core network's security and efficiency, covering rollup standardization, optimization of gas costs, data indexing, network optimization, and development of execution clients.
Further beneficiaries included developer tooling and analytics platforms, projects improving developer onboarding, language libraries, and ecosystem accessibility. Notably, this funding round aligns with recent network advancements—such as the Pectra upgrade and an updated roadmap from co-founder Vitalik Buterin prioritizing scalability and user experience.
These grants strengthen the core infrastructure, promote decentralization, and ensure open-source development, supporting the ongoing innovation and security of the Ethereum network. The Foundation's diversified approach aims to advance both immediate priorities and long-term goals for the entire Ethereum ecosystem.