The Ethereum Foundation has distributed 32.6 million dollars in grants in Q1 2025, focusing on education, community, and developer experience through 101 funded projects.
Technologies like ZK and advanced cryptography remain a priority, with 14 grants awarded to post-quantum security and privacy projects.
The Pectra update, activated on May 7, marks a major milestone with three key EIPs, briefly boosting the price of ETH up to $2,400.
The Ethereum Foundation unveils its first-quarter expenditures
The Ethereum Foundation has announced the distribution of 32.6 million dollars in grants during the first quarter of 2025. A significant move for the ecosystem, as the network restructures around the Pectra upgrade and ZK technology enters a new phase of maturity.
Education, ZK, and DevX in focus
Out of the 101 grants awarded through the ESP (Ecosystem Support Program), nearly a third targeted education and community. Bootcamps, hackathons (ETHPrague, ETHiopia), conferences, and content creators received direct support, in a clear strategy to train talents and expand globally.
Another priority: developer experience. Sixteen projects received funding to improve tools, SDKs, analysis platforms, or validation interfaces. Several initiatives also aim to ease access to EIPs and enhance the protocol’s multilingual documentation.
ZK-proofs and cryptography at the core of Ethereum research
Advanced cryptography is also a focus. Fourteen grants were allocated to projects specialized in zero-knowledge proofs (ZK-proofs), post-quantum security, and innovative cryptographic techniques. The foundation continues to accelerate in a key area for the future of scaling and privacy on Ethereum.
Funds were also awarded to execution layers (7 projects), to the consensus layer (7 projects), and to more cross-cutting initiatives related to the growth and adoption of the protocol (9 projects). Thirteen other grants cover various use cases: DeFi, stablecoins, DApps, and business development.
Pectra: the upgrade that revives the engine
On May 7, Ethereum activated the Pectra upgrade on the mainnet. This technical update, rolled out at epoch 364032, includes three major EIPs (7702, 7251, 7691) and aims to enhance data storage for rollups, validator experience, and smart wallet functionality.
Since the deployment, the price of ETH has seen a resurgence. After hitting a low point at the end of April, it soared up to $2,400, its highest level in 30 days, before slightly dropping back to around $2,345.
