Ethereum, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, has announced the grant recipients for the fourth quarter of 2022. With over 50 projects across various categories, the foundation is investing in the future of blockchain technology and fostering global communities that share its vision.
The grantees, ranging from community education programs to cryptography research, will use the funding to promote Ethereum’s growth and contribute to its continued success.
Community and Education: Supporting Blockchain Development Around the Globe
Ethereum is investing in a wide range of community and education projects. The grant recipients include eSatya, a Nepalese organization that hosts free meetups and a blockchain course aimed at familiarizing Nepalese developers with the key elements of blockchain through project-based learning.
CryptoStats, a community-driven project, provides neutral crypto metrics and develops tools for gathering data and building websites that visualize the data in practical ways for the community.
Other recipients include Devcon Satellite Events Grants, Ethereum Honduras, Ethereum San Diego Meetups, and Tech4Democracy Bogotá, among many others.
Consensus Layer: Building a Stronger Foundation for Ethereum
The foundation is also investing in the development of its consensus layer, a fundamental component of the network that ensures the integrity and security of transactions.
The grant recipients in this category include Codex, which is researching, modeling, and simulating a double-layer Kademlia protocol for Data Availability Sampling (DAS), and Metacraft Labs, which is developing ZK circuits for verifying claims regarding the current state of Ethereum, backed by the signatures of the entire Ethereum validator set.
These ZK circuits will then be utilized in light client smart contracts. Other recipients include Open Zeppelin, Sigma Prime, and Puffer.
Cryptography and Zero-Knowledge Proofs: Securing Ethereum’s Future
Cryptography and zero-knowledge proofs are critical components of Ethereum’s security and privacy. The grant recipients in this category include Modulus Labs, which is creating a whitepaper that provides comprehensive guidance on the selection of ZK proofs for given AI use cases, and BlockWallet, which is building a privacy-focused, non-custodial browser extension wallet that enables users to store funds and interact with blockchain applications privately.
Other recipients include Uncloak, which is building a knowledge base for cryptography, and Zero-Knowledge Machine Learning (zkML), which is developing a platform for machine learning developers to quickly convert their models trained in Tensorflow and PyTorch into a ZK-compatible one.
Developer Experience and Tooling: Making Ethereum More Accessible
Ethereum is investing in the development of tools and resources that make the network more accessible to developers and users.
The grant recipients in this category include Hazim Jumali and John Rising, who are offering bounties for independent audits and contributions to a modular Go implementation of an ERC-4337 Bundler, and Protofire, which is building Solhint, a Solidity linter that enables Solidity developers to write standardized smart contract code through improved code quality, order, readability, style guides, preventing known bugs, and providing security alerts.
Other recipients include 0xAA, which offers free, open-source, and community-reviewed tutorials on Ethereum development in Mandarin Chinese, and Dragan Rakita, which is developing a Rust implementation of the EVM that is easy to integrate and use.
