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Ethereum Foundation Drops $32.65M on Global Education, L2 Scaling, and ZK Tech

Fri May 09 2025

The Ethereum Foundation commits $32.65M to projects worldwide, funding blockchain education, Layer 2 development, cryptography tools, and zero-knowledge research. Here’s how it shapes Ethereum’s next decade.

💸 Ethereum Foundation Just Went Full NGO Mode

The Ethereum Foundation isn’t just funding code anymore — it’s funding a global movement.

In Q1 2025, the Foundation committed a whopping 32.65 million across education, Layer 2 scaling, cryptography, and core infrastructure — the biggest quarterly grant splash in its history.

And this isn't just about tweaking smart contracts. It’s about building a resilient, censorship-resistant, truly global Ethereum.

🧠 Where the Money Went: Education, Cryptography, Layer 2s

📚 Community and Education: 37 Projects Funded

From ETHiopia in Addis Ababa to Arabic blockchain bootcamps and privacy residencies in Taipei, Ethereum’s world tour just got funded.

The message?

If you can teach, organize, or hack — Ethereum has your back.

🔒 Zero-Knowledge and Cryptography: 16 Projects

Ethereum’s scaling future rides on zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) — and the Foundation knows it.

Funding highlights:

Phantom Zone: Homomorphic encryption for fully private VMs.
ZK Email: Private email onchain? Coming soon.
Lean Blueprints: Formalizing crypto math so Ethereum doesn’t break when quantum computers show up.

🏗️ Core Infrastructure: Consensus and Execution Layers

Seven core projects got backing to toughen up Ethereum’s foundation:

Sigma Prime's Lighthouse: Consensus upgrades for future-proof staking.
Andrew Lewis-Pye’s research: Making network failures less mysterious.

Execution layer upgrades are also on deck: cheaper gas, faster EVMs, and new clients.

🛠️ Developer Tools: Making Ethereum Easier to Build On

Seventeen teams got grants to make life easier for devs:

BuidlGuidl: For turning ETH-curious hackers into builders.
AndroidPortal SDK: Building mobile apps without relying on centralized RPC nodes.
EthStaker: Getting more solo validators online = more decentralization.

🌎 From Addis Ababa to Ukraine: Ethereum Goes Ultra-Global

These grants span five continents:

Argentina’s ECI Summer School.
Greece’s House of Ether.
Ukraine’s dev bootcamps.
Bulgaria’s formal verification workshops.

Ethereum isn't just surviving. It’s spreading. Building at the grassroots. Teaching privacy. Funding education where it matters most.

🔥 Why This Round Matters: Beyond Code

The grants hit just as Ethereum's Pectra upgrade dropped — the biggest technical leap since The Merge.

Vitalik’s latest roadmap calls for faster blobs, better UX, and serious L1 scalability. The Foundation’s funding blitz shows they’re not just talking — they’re betting big on real-world adoption.

Because scaling Ethereum isn't just about TPS numbers. It’s about training people, building new systems, and not screwing it up when 10 billion users show up.

🧠 TL;DR

32.65M in grants to education, cryptography, Layer 2, and core infrastructure.
Ethereum is betting on zero-knowledge proofs, global developer onboarding, and grassroots decentralization.
It’s not just code — it’s culture.
The future of Ethereum will be taught, coded, and secured by a generation raised on grants like these.

Ethereum’s next chapter? Already being written.