Allocation Update – Q1 2024

Community & education BITS Pilani Ethereum Ecosystem Advancement Initiative Support for Ethereum educational development at the Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS) Pilani in India through coursework, practical projects, and community engagement. Community & education Blockchain Fundamentals Course & Solidity Bootcamp Xerxis Ethereum educational content for the local Ethiopian developer community in Amharic. Community & education Developer Courses Ethereum Bogotá Production and organization of advanced in-person Solidity development courses over a seven month period. Community & education Community Building Meetups Espacio Cripto Series of six in-person community-building meetups for communities in Mexico City to explore and be educated about Ethereum content. Community & education ETHBoston Conference and hackathon in Boston, USA, centered around topics related to the Ethereum protocol layer, real-world assets, and privacy and security. Community & education ETH Bratislava Hackathon Hackathon hosted in Bratislava, Slovakia, exploring themes such as scaling, liquid staking and restaking, and privacy solutions. Community & education ETH Bucharest Conference and hackathon in Bucharest, Romania that delved into themes such as blockchain mass adoption, governance models, and privacy solutions. Community & education ETH Cape Town Hackathon organized in Cape Town, South Africa that will include developer workshops covering topics such as layer 2s (L2s) and tooling. Community & education ETHDam Conference and hackathon dedicated to privacy and security, organized in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Community & education Ethereum Development Workshops Jesse Raymond Ethereum development workshops at the University of Port Harcourt in Nigeria which comprises online interactive talks and practical workshops on Solidity. Community & education Ethereum Education Explorations Ankit Gangwal Ethereum education efforts at the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad in India through academic research, community building, and educational programs. Community & education Ethereum Tegucigalpa Supporting the Ethereum community in Honduras through a series of community-building activities including meetups, bootcamps, hackathons, and educational collaborations with local universities. Community & education EthereumZuri.ch Academic and research-focused conference in Zürich, Switzerland that delved into topics such as the protocol layer, scaling, and security. Community & education ETH Kipu Support for ecosystem development efforts across Latin America, including a series of educational initiatives for developers and beginners, grassroots community activities, and events organizing. Community & education ETHKL Supporting the Ethereum community in Malaysia through a series of community-building activities including regular meetups, a hacker house, and a conference and hackathon. Community & education ETHMumbai The first Ethereum hackathon hosted in Mumbai, India that revolved around the themes of privacy, social tooling, and DeFi. Community & education ETHSamba Hack Hackathon organized in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil which includes a bootcamp for beginners and workshops for advanced developers. Community & education ETHTaipei Conference and hackathon in Taipei, Taiwan that delved into DeFi, security, and topics related to the protocol layer such as clients, L2s, and zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs). Email Community & education ETHTallinn Hybrid hackathon centered around decentralized infrastructure, privacy and security, and scalability, hosted in Tallinn, Estonia. Community & education Financial Cryptography & Data Security Academic conference dedicated to all aspects of securing transactions and systems, including both fundamental and applied real-world deployments. Community & education Guild Audits Providing free security developer training programs in Nigeria through lectures, events, and hackathons. Twitter Community & education House of Account Abstraction Account abstraction meetup that explored cutting-edge topics such as shared mempool, modular smart accounts, and censorship resistance in London, UK. Community & education International Workshop on Satisfiability Modulo Theories (SMT) Workshop with the goal of exchanging ideas between SMT solver developers and users of SMT, and motivating new research in SMT. Community & education magma Borderless Africa Two-week residency organized in Kenya for African builders comprising structured workshops, office hours with mentors, peer-to-peer coordination, and community-building sessions. Community & education muBuenos Developer-focused, six-week popup city in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Community & education MuseMatrix DeSci Fellowship DeSci Fellowship dedicated to building open-source tooling over the course of six months, with peer-to-peer learning sessions. Community & education Petnica Science Center Bootcamp Nine-day seminar about blockchain with an emphasis on Ethereum and its underlying technologies, for students in Serbia. Email Community & education SEED Latam Supporting local node operators through creating educational articles, hosting webinars, and providing direct support. Community & education SpaghettETH Ecosystem development efforts throughout Italy and assisting with the development of new Ethereum communities in Southern Italy. Community & education Stack Too Deep Blockchain Society IIT Roorkee Ethereum-focused hackathon for students of the Indian Institute Of Technology Roorkee, exploring themes such as zero knowledge (ZK), social impact, and rollups. Community & education Updating the Ethereum Yellow Paper Pierre-Louis Despaigne Updating the Ethereum Yellow Paper to include the Shanghai and Cancun forks. Community & education Web3 Family Conference Conference hosted in Barcelona, Spain that explored a wide range of topics including cryptography, privacy, and scaling. Community & education zkDay Barcelona Conference dedicated to ZK cryptography and its applications, organized in Barcelona, Spain. Community & education zkMarek Videos explaining advanced cryptography and mathematical topics in a way that is accessible to software engineers without a mathematical background. Community & education ZKProof 6 Three-day workshop in Berlin, Germany revolving around ZKPs and their standardization, applications, and programmability. Community & education zkWarsaw Monthly meetups with invited guests delving into cryptography basics, multi-party computation (MPC), fully homomorphic encryption (FHE), and other advanced mathematics and Ethereum topics. Consensus layer Combining Logic & Consensus via Semitopologies Murdoch Gabbay Using semitopologies to design new declarative methods of specifying and reasoning about consensus protocols and/or about ‘rational byzantine behavior’. Consensus layer Dependable Distributed Systems (DDS) – ConsenSys Research on a set of key topics for advancing the Ethereum consensus protocol that falls within the DDS team’s domain of expertise: distributed systems design, specification, analysis, and formal verification. Consensus layer DHT Monitoring ProbeLab Diving into the details of Ethereum’s distributed hash table (DHT) network to verify and better understand the performance of the network, analyzing areas such as node churn, routing table health, and resilience against attacks. Consensus layer GossipSub Monitoring ProbeLab Performing a comprehensive passive monitoring study of the GossipSub protocol and developing the capability to measure its performance by building the right tools and infrastructure for data collection, storage, analysis, and visualization. Consensus layer Lantern.Discv5 Pier Two Consensus layer light client in C# using the .NET framework that fetches data directly from beacon nodes via libp2p. Consensus layer Leaderless ePBS Consensus Mechanism Research Ella Shen Leaderless ePBS consensus mechanism to address the limitations of the existing proof-of-stake system by making the process more equitable for validators, eliminating the possibility of proposer bribes, and ensuring that all fees are burned while validators receive attestation rewards. Consensus layer Lighthouse Sigma Prime Continued development of the Lighthouse consensus client. Consensus layer Lodestar ChainSafe Continued development of the Lodestar consensus client. Consensus layer ROP-10: Economic Validation of Execution Tickets Pascal Stichler & Christian Haug Researching the purchasing mechanism of execution tickets by analyzing the overall mechanism requirements, delving into the specific attributes, investigating pricing, and simulating different configurations. Cryptography & zero knowledge proofs Acceleration Program Ecosystem Development & Coordination Paul Yu Ecosystem development and coordination for PSE‘s Acceleration Program, which seeks to onboard promising talent to the ZK and cryptography world. Cryptography & zero knowledge proofs DevRel Coordinations & Communications Support Elo Mukoro Developer relations coordinations for ZK Email and support for the PSE Communications team. Cryptography & zero knowledge proofs DJ Prediction Market Integrating a prediction market into a DJing platform such that the prediction market will select the subsequent track at every second bar. A conductor will evaluate the performance of each bar, which then influences the payout of the prediction market. Cryptography & zero knowledge proofs Efficient Implementation of ProtoStar Ak36 Efficient implementation of ProtoStar with halo2 frontend using HyperPlonk. Cryptography & zero knowledge proofs Embedded Engineer for the Semaphore Network Team Embedded engineer for the Semaphore Network team to explore product-market fit, pinpoint suitable regions for deployment, and prepare for trial implementations. Cryptography & zero knowledge proofs End-to-End Publicly Verifiable Secure 2PC Developing public verifiability for 2PC, where public entities can verify the correctness property given the public transcript of the 2PC. Cryptography & zero knowledge proofs eSim Wallet dungexn, Manul Singh Parihar, & Tanmay Goel Mobile-based hardware crypto wallet based on eSIMs with remote provisioning of accessibility. Cryptography & zero knowledge proofs EthSIM Embedded Software Engineer Embedded software engineer for EthSIM, focusing specifically on enhancing wireless connectivity. Cryptography & zero knowledge proofs EthSIM Rollout in Africa Borderless Africa Supporting the EthSIM research team identify rollout opportunities in Africa, get diverse feedback, and develop local relationships for a V1 trial. Cryptography & zero knowledge proofs fhe-http Ben Tseng Setting up an extension on http that enables web services to provide fhe services to users. Cryptography & zero knowledge proofs FHE State-of-Knowledge Bhargav Annem Procuring a knowledge base for current FHE schemes used in machine learning (ML) models, with the goal of surveying the current implementations and identifying the key insights used in these ML implementations. Cryptography & zero knowledge proofs Folding by Hand Yugo Article providing an in-depth and intuitive explanation of Nova’s folding scheme mechanism’s primitives and its advantages compared to conventional recursive proofs. Cryptography & zero knowledge proofs Front-End Development for PSE Projects Mark Roddy Front-end development to build mobile-native applications for various PSE projects such as EthSIM. Cryptography & zero knowledge proofs Gaussian Janmajaya Mall Toolbox and library that developers can use to build private shared state applications. Cryptography & zero knowledge proofs Implementing Liam-Eagen-MSM Gadget in Halo2 Seongsu Jeon Implementing a protocol on halo2 that proves that a point on an elliptic curve is the multi-scalar multiplication (MSM) of some points. Cryptography & zero knowledge proofs Improving MSM Performance Using GPU Fu-Chuan Chung & Moven Tsai Enhancing the performance of proving speed using the GPU on mobile phones as part of mopro, a toolkit for ZK app development on mobile. Twitter, Telegram Cryptography & zero knowledge proofs IZK Proofs PADO Labs Implement and optimize the interactive zero-knowledge (IZK) proof protocol QuickSilver in Rust. Cryptography & zero knowledge proofs PLUME & ZK Email Developments Aayush Gupta Distribution of grants to accelerate PLUME, a nullifier-friendly signature scheme on ECDSA, and ZK Email, a protocol for creating Proof of Email by selectively disclosing information contained in the email. Cryptography & zero knowledge proofs Proof of Passport Florent Tavernier, Youssef, & Rémi Colin Proof of passport protocol that mints users a soulbound token after verification that they are a holder of a passport, which is completed on-chain in a ZK circuit. Cryptography & zero knowledge proofs Proving ML Models with ZKPs Saeyoon Oh Delving into the fundamental concepts essential for proving the integrity of ML models using ZKPs. Cryptography & zero knowledge proofs PSE Core Program – Costa Rica Two-month program aimed at recruiting 20 ZKP and cryptography enthusiasts from Costa Rica, primarily students, to actively contribute to ZK open-source projects. Cryptography & zero knowledge proofs PSE Development Activities Mach34 Support for PSE‘s various development activities, including contributing to ideation, code review and development, and holistic engagement with advanced cryptography experiments. Cryptography & zero knowledge proofs PSE Technical Coordinator alizk Technical coordinator for the zkEVM Community Edition project and the PSE/Halo2 ecosystem. Cryptography & zero knowledge proofs Secure Signatures & Account Abstraction Enhancement Initiative Cometh Conducting a comprehensive review and enhancement of critical smart contracts to fortify the security and functionality of Ethereum’s account abstraction and the ERC-4337 ecosystem. Cryptography & zero knowledge proofs TLSNotary Development Tanner Shaw Building a browser extension and web application for TLSNotary, a protocol for creating cryptographic proofs of authenticity for any data on the web. Cryptography & zero knowledge proofs Tooling to Enable Micro Benchmarks for GPU/MSMs Fu-Chuan Chung & Moven Tsai Implementing micro-benchmarking tooling for running MSMs or using the GPU on mobile phones as part of mopro, a toolkit for ZK app development on mobile. Cryptography & zero knowledge proofs Towards Efficient Lattice-Based Folding Schemes Ngoc Khanh Nguyen Research exploring whether an efficient lattice-based folding scheme can be constructed to support an arbitrary number of folding steps. Cryptography & zero knowledge proofs Wasan Cryptography research organization in Japan with the purpose of empowering Japanese and Asian blockchain researcher communities. Cryptography & zero knowledge proofs zk-auctions Andrew Naguib Toolkit for developing practical and versatile primitives for conducting secure and private auctions using ZKPs. Cryptography & zero knowledge proofs ZK-Friendly ML Model Explorations Saeyoon Oh Exploring different ZK-applicable ML algorithms that can perform the Heart Failure Prediction Dataset. Cryptography & zero knowledge proofs ZKML – AIGC NFT Dapp utilizing ZKML to train an autoencoder to convert images into a latent representation then construct them to a specific artistic style, enabling NFT collection owners to deploy a model trained on their unique images and generate new ones. Cryptography & zero knowledge proofs ZKP2P Alex Soong, Brian Weickmann, Richard Liang, & Sachin Kumar Privacy-preserving, trustless peer-to-peer (P2P) fiat onramp that is interoperable with all popular web2 payment rails. Cryptography & zero knowledge proofs ETHDenver BUIDLQuest Vivek Bhupatiraju ZK activation at ETHDenver where attendees collected ZK-friendly signatures using NFC badges and cards. Attendees could use their badges to privately exchange contact information, and prove ownership of signatures to complete quests and earn items at the BUIDL store. Cryptography & zero knowledge proofs ZK-Strapping Youngwan Kwon & Changmin Cho Replacing a bootstrapping process in FHE with ZKPs. Data analysis Enhancing Observability & Data Availability for Ethereum Blob Data Blocknative Building and supporting an archive for EIP-4844 blobs that will collect, store, and make blob data accessible to the Ethereum ecosystem as a public good. Developer experience & tooling Buidl Guidl Educational community of builders creating products and prototypes and providing Ethereum developer education. Developer experience & tooling EthPM v4 ApeWorX Research exploring what an updated EthPM specification would need to include to provide a better developer experience for EVM developer tooling teams. Developer experience & tooling Fe Lang Crypto-Primitives Verification & Implementation Nethermind Verification of an Fe Lang BN254 curve library and implementation of a BLS signature scheme which uses the verified BN254 curve. Developer experience & tooling Fe Lang Memory Allocator Saif Katout Implementing an allocator for Fe in the standard library, thus enabling the capability to replace the built-in memory types with standard library implementations and allowing developers to implement their own types using the allocator. Developer experience & tooling Governance Paymaster Aseem Sood Variety of on-chain paymasters that operate fully on-chain, to independently support various DAO functions across two different types of Governors. Twitter, Email Developer experience & tooling Solide Peter Tran Open-source, lightweight Solidity integrated development environment (IDE) and knowledge hub that community members can contribute to. Developer experience & tooling Web3.js ChainSafe Continued development and maintenance of Web3.js, an extension platform for building decentralized peer-to-peer applications in TypeScript/JavaScript to interact with Ethereum. Execution layer Erigon Funding for Erigon’s continued work on the Ethereum mainnet, specifically their execution client development and applied R&D on performance optimizations. Execution layer ethRPCtoREST Amit Kumar Mishra Middleware application that acts as a REST wrapper for JSON-RPC interface of Ethereum nodes. Execution layer EVM Gas Cost Estimator Imapp Extension of the EVM Gas Cost Estimator project, developing automation and tooling that includes more OPCODEs and precompiles into the standardized reporting. Execution layer ROP-8: Geographical Distribution of Ethereum Validators Francesco Mosterts & Jonas Bostoen Examining the geographic distribution of Ethereum’s nodes and validators using P2P network data. Email Execution layer Verkle Tries Implementation Support OnlyDust Support for OnlyDust community contributors to continue working on a Verkle Tries implementation for Hyperledger Besu. Execution layer Verkle Tries In-Circuit Dragan Pilipovic Introducing Verkle Tries into the halo2 library to enhance cryptographic primitives and data structures for improved proof systems. General growth & support DVT Research Nethermind Assessing the benefits and risks of using distributed validator technology (DVT) on staking performance and seeking an optimal strategy for operators to maximize their income. General growth & support ETHStaker Support for ETHStaker’s activities in 2024, such as running events, promoting execution diversity, and supporting solo stakers. Discord General growth & support Grassroots Adoption of Crypto in Ukraine Valeriia “Ria” Panina Researching the drivers and blockers of the adoption of crypto and other dapps for ordinary users and mapping emergent use cases and behaviors around decentralized technologies of Ukrainians, as part of the Next Billion Fellowship Cohort #3. General growth & support Open-Source Transcriptions for Conferences Kaito Open-source transcriptions for the talks delivered at ETHDenver, EthCC, and Devcon 2024 to enhance the accessibility of Ethereum ecosystem content. Twitter General growth & support The Red Guild Collective of security researchers, educators, and advocates committed to protecting web3 applications in the Ethereum ecosystem. Email General growth & suppot Road to Devcon Grants Round Grants round to support the growth of local Ethereum communities, initiatives, and projects in Southeast Asia. General research Academic Grants Round Grants round funding formal research that aims to create more knowledge about Ethereum, blockchain technology, and related domains. General research Hybrid Auction PBS vita & Hiroshi Tei Research which explores and proposes a new style of hybrid auction model that does not modify the protocol or the consensus, and which meets the needs and expectations of users. Twitter General research Preconfirmations for Based Rollup Exploration LimeChain Suggested architecture for a preconfirmations subsystem which outlines any changes needed to existing in- or out-of-protocol mechanisms. Email General research Transport Privacy Exploration of the Validator-Relayer Builder API HOPR Exploring transport-level privacy issues in the Ethereum MEV ecosystem, specifically assessing privacy leaks at the interface between validators and relays. Indirect funding Ethereum Colombia Quadratic Funding Round Quadratic funding round run by Ethereum Colombia to distribute funding to local projects working on public goods. Layer 2 L2BEAT Open-source L2 data, research, and tooling hub that provides critical resources for the Ethereum L2 ecosystem. Other Account Abstraction Support Smoo.th Industrialization of cryptographic libraries, specifically LibMPC and LibEd25519, aiming to optimize them for better performance and security within the Ethereum ecosystem. Other Bringing Verkle Tries to Portal Network Milos Stankovic Implementing MVP support for state in the Trin client and researching how Verkle Tries can be supported, optimizing state storage and retrieval to make Portal Network more efficient. Other D4C Mohas Continued development of D4C, a Geth fork for fuzzing the devp2p protocols of Ethereum. Protocol growth & support Ethereum Node Crawler Features & Maintenance Angus Dippenaar Support for the advancement and maintenance of the Ethereum node crawler.