Ethereum Foundation Releases Q1 Funding List: Continuing Support for ZK, Cryptography, and Protocol Infrastructure

ChainCatcher News: The Ethereum Foundation has released the list of funding and ecosystem support projects for the first quarter of 2026, with a focus on cryptography, zero-knowledge proof (ZK), protocol security, and core infrastructure development, continuously strengthening Ethereum’s underlying technology stack and long-term scalability.

This quarter’s funding covers multiple key areas. At the protocol and client layer, this includes optimizations for the Geth and Erigon clients, upgrades to the Lighthouse client, and the development of network monitoring tools following the Pectra upgrade, with an emphasis on improving network performance and attack resistance. In addition, projects such as HSM key management, the validator security tool Vero, and the DISC-NG node discovery mechanism are also supported, to enhance node reliability and institutional-level compliance capabilities.

In the cryptography and ZK direction, the Foundation continues to further invest in Poseidon hash function analysis, Gröbner basis attack research, exploration of post-quantum and homomorphic encryption mixtures, and formal verification of RISC-V zkVM, further strengthening the security boundary for zero-knowledge proof and cryptographic infrastructure.

In the developer ecosystem, ongoing efforts include upgrading the BuidlGuidl education system, building an ERC standards community, the WalletConnect clear-signature library, and toolchain development such as Open Creator Rails, to reduce development barriers and improve the security of user interactions. Meanwhile, L2BEAT continues to provide Layer 2 transparency analysis, strengthening the data infrastructure for the scaling ecosystem.

In addition, the Foundation also supports privacy technologies (such as Tor integration and the Privacy Pool SDK), decentralized identity (did:ethr standard upgrades), DAO governance research, and public product experimental projects, covering a complete ecosystem structure from the protocol layer to the application layer. Overall, this round of funding continues Ethereum’s long-term investment in its three core directions—“cryptography + ZK + protocol engineering”—emphasizing supporting future multi-layer expansion and institutional application deployment through infrastructure and standardized development.