9-5-2025 – The Ethereum Foundation has demonstrated substantial commitment to blockchain advancement, distributing grants totalling $32.6 million through its Ecosystem Support Program (ESP).
The Foundation’s strategic focus on educational initiatives emerged prominently, with nearly a third of the 101 grants channelled into community development. Notable beneficiaries included the innovative ETHPrague and ETHiopia events, alongside various bootcamps and educational content creators, underscoring the Foundation’s grassroots approach to blockchain literacy.
Technical innovation received significant backing, with sixteen projects dedicated to enhancing developer tools and experiences. These initiatives encompassed sophisticated software development kits, advanced analytics platforms, and crucial validator tooling improvements, marking a substantial investment in the network’s technical robustness.
The cryptographic frontier saw fourteen projects funded, delving into zero-knowledge proofs and post-quantum security research, whilst maintaining a balanced distribution across execution and consensus layer developments, each receiving seven grants respectively.
In a parallel development, the Ethereum network achieved a significant milestone with the successful implementation of the Pectra upgrade on 7 May. The upgrade, initiated at epoch 364032, introduced three crucial Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs): 7702, 7251, and 7691, enhancing layer-2 scaling capabilities and improving both validator and smart account wallet experiences.
The market responded favourably to these developments, with Ether reaching a monthly peak of $2,400 on 9 May, before settling at $2,345, reflecting growing confidence in the network’s evolutionary trajectory.
A notable portion of the foundation’s support extended beyond conventional categories, with thirteen grants allocated to diverse initiatives spanning decentralised finance, decentralised applications, and stablecoin infrastructure, highlighting the ecosystem’s expanding horizons.
Nine additional projects received funding for protocol advancement and ecosystem support, reinforcing the foundation’s comprehensive approach to network development and sustainability.