Ethereum Scalability Research and Development Grant Program

The Ethereum community, leading developers, researchers, etc. have always recognized scalability as the most important core technology challenge that blockchain applications need to solve for mass adoption. Blockchain scalability is difficult primarily because typical blockchain designs require every node in the network to process every transaction. This limits the transaction processing capacity of the entire system to that of a single node.

There are two main paths to improving blockchain scalability. first (“Sharding”) involves creating a better-designed base-layer blockchain protocol that retains most of the desired decentralization and security properties of blockchains found in the simple designs available today, but requires only a small number of nodes to view and process all transactions. It’s possible. , more transactions can be processed in parallel at the same time. The second is to create a “layer 2” protocol that sends most transactions off-chain and only interacts with the underlying blockchain to enter and exit the layer 2 system and in the event of an attack on the system.

We view the two strategies as complementary and believe that we support a multi-pronged strategy toward Ethereum scalability that engages both strategies and treats them as complementary to each other.

Knowledge Base on Ethereum Scalability Technologies

Sharding:

Examples of existing layer 2 systems:

With the Ethereum blockchain reaching 1 million transactions per day, and both Ethereum and other blockchain projects increasingly reaching full transaction capacity, the need to scale progress is becoming increasingly clear and urgent. To this end, in addition to the future work we are doing internally on scalability, we are launching two experimental grant schemes to support more independent teams to collaborate with the Ethereum Research team’s base layer scalability research and development efforts. The goal is to build an independent layer 2 project that can connect and improve the scalability of Ethereum.

We welcome applications from all independent teams comprised of developers, companies, universities and academic groups. We recognize that different types of applicants may require different formats and processes, and we strive to be flexible to accommodate the needs of individual teams.

Sharding Client Subsidy Program

Sharding development has progressed rapidly over the past few months. The specifications of the initial prototype are as follows: almost confirmed, there is a roadmap for it to be slowly introduced to Ethereum, initially as a “loosely coupled” sidechain anchored to the Ethereum main chain via a “validator custodian contract”, and later more closely linked to the Ethereum main chain over time. Tightly integrated. The reference implementation is being built on top of Python. Pi-EVMPython’s testnet isn’t far behind.

And we hope you will join us in this next step. We want the Ethereum sharding testnet and later sharding mainnet to be a multi-client ecosystem from the beginning, and the Ethereum Foundation does not support single-privileged production implementations. The Ethereum Foundation-funded research team will continue to build implementations in Python and other languages, but these are primarily for reference and proof-of-concept purposes. While we aim to continue to focus on research and specifications, we don’t ultimately want to “win” a race for our clients to have the most active users after the network goes live.

Instead, the Ethereum Foundation will provide grants to independent groups in the community who want to build implementations and participate in the sharding testnet and mainnet. These payments are not intended to be a source of significant profit to the recipient institution. This is intended to cover some of the associated costs, with the understanding that everyone participating in the initiative will have access to unique opportunities to participate in and participate in the development of Ethereum 2.0 through close collaboration with core Ethereum researchers. It will be one of the first clients available once the sharding mainnet goes live.

This will take the form of specialized programs that will exist alongside a more general grants program that the foundation will soon launch. Subsidy amount $Up to 50,000$1,000,000 units are available, with larger quantities available for very successful projects. The size of the grant is determined by considering the quality of the team, scope of proposed implementation, and project progress over time. Participants will interact closely with the core research team and play a key role in shaping the final specification that is developed over the course of implementing the specification and running the test network.

Layer-2 Scalability Solutions Grant Program

There have been a number of independent proposals recently on how blockchains like Ethereum could scale via second-layer protocols. We recognize and appreciate that developers and researchers are passionate about studying and implementing technologies in this area, and that many teams want the freedom to conceive and build their own designs that incorporate their own ideas. We want to give these teams the opportunity to unleash their creativity and build scalable blockchain offerings while staying within the Ethereum family.

To achieve this, we are building a scalability and latency-reducing “layer 2” platform that exists on top of Ethereum, and establishing a grant scheme for projects that leverage the security of the Ethereum blockchain as a base layer and its interoperability with the larger Ethereum community. announces. platform.

Like the Sharding Client Scheme, this takes the form of a specialized grant program and the grant amount is $50,000 ~$1,000,000 units available depending on scope, scale and quality. Grants may also be provided if the project has an independent business model or is funded by potential other sources in the Ethereum community. Funded is end-to-end open source and provides common benefits to the Ethereum ecosystem.

Funding targets include efforts to develop high-quality implementations of existing, known Layer 2 scaling strategies (e.g., state channels, plasma), as well as efforts to research and develop new strategies.

Closing Note

Both of these programs are in very early stages, and grants will initially be determined at the discretion of Ethereum core leadership. Details of payment terms, payment schedules, etc. are subject to change based on our initial experience with program participants, and we expect the program to solidify and expand throughout the year.

Please also note that while the amounts paid through these collaborative programs are significantly higher than those paid under previous grant programs, these payments come with much higher expectations of focus and quality. We are targeting an experienced team with direct experience in Ethereum or the blockchain space, or experience in the broad fields of mechanism design, distributed systems or cryptography, as well as software engineering. The program is also targeting sharding clients and layer 2 scaling solutions. This is not a universal grant program. It is still in development and details will be released as soon as they are ready.

How to apply

The first step is to send an email to: apply@ethereumresearch.orgIt contains the following information:

• Official name of the project, applicants and core developers
• Additional information about the team, including previous activities in Ethereum or the blockchain space, distributed systems, mechanism design, cryptography, etc.
• Proposals and implications for scalability
• Development milestones and projected timeline for completion, grant request amount, and projected total overall budget.