Ethereum Foundation Enhances Ecosystem with $32 Million in Grants in Early 2025

The Ethereum Foundation has revealed that it distributed over $32 million in grants in the first quarter of 2025.

In an update released on May 8, the funding was allocated through its Ecosystem Support Program to a total of 94 projects. The report detailed the recipients by category and focus area, although it did not specify the individual grant amounts for each project.

This distribution represents a significant increase of 63% compared to the $11.6 million granted in the final quarter of 2024, indicating a stronger dedication to the advancement and development of the Ethereum ecosystem.

Emphasis on Community and Education in Grants

The majority of the grants were awarded to initiatives in the Community and Education sector, with funding going to 32 different projects. These initiatives included various forms of outreach, such as research, workshops, conferences, and bootcamps aimed at fostering learning and engagement.

The Foundation’s commitment to educational initiatives and community enhancement reflects its goal to improve the knowledge and participation of Ethereum users within the ecosystem.

Additionally, the Foundation allocated 16 grants specifically for Developer Experience and Tooling, with blockchain security firm CertiK receiving two grants within this category.

CertiK is focused on streamlining the verification process for zkVM (Zero-Knowledge Virtual Machine) circuits. Their initiatives encompass enhancing modular arithmetic functionality as well as optimizing situations where multiple values are contained within a single field element.

Other notable categories for grants included Cryptography and Zero-Knowledge Proofs, supporting 14 different projects.

The Consensus Layer was awarded seven grants, while both Execution Layers and Protocol Growth and Support received funding for five initiatives each. General Growth and Support was given four grants, in addition to two provided through indirect funding.

The remaining 10 projects were funded under the “Others” category, which supported organizations focused on promoting decentralization, conducting comprehensive research on stablecoins, and those dedicated to integrating traditional financial systems with Ethereum.

Importantly, L2Beat, a well-known data aggregator operating on Layer-2, also received a grant. This funding is part of the Ethereum Foundation’s persistent support for activities that enhance data provision, crucial for the transparency and scalability of Ethereum’s layer-2 solutions.