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

Comparatively, the Ethereum Foundation announced a list of funding and ecological support projects for the first quarter of 2026, focusing on cryptography, zero-knowledge proof (ZK), protocol security, and core infrastructure construction to continue strengthening Ethereum's underlying technology stack and long-term scalability.

This quarter's funding covered a number of key areas. At the protocol and client level, including Geth and Erigon client optimization, Lighthouse client upgrade, and construction of network monitoring tools after the Pectra upgrade, the focus is on improving network performance and attack resistance. At the same time, projects such as HSM key management, verifier security tool Vero, and DISC-NG node discovery mechanism are also supported to enhance node-layer reliability and agency-level compliance capabilities.

In the direction of cryptography and ZK, the Foundation continues to increase projects such as Poseidon hash function analysis, Gröbner-based attack research, exploration of anti-quantum and homomorphic hybrid cryptography, and formal verification of RISC-V zKVM to further strengthen the security boundaries of zero-knowledge proof and cryptographic infrastructure.

In terms of the developer ecosystem, tool chains such as the BuidlGuidl education system upgrade, ERC standard community construction, WalletConnect signature library, and Open Creator Rails continue to advance to lower the development threshold and improve the security of user interaction. At the same time, L2BEAT continues to provide layer 2 transparency analysis and strengthen the expanded ecological data infrastructure.

Additionally, the Foundation supports privacy technologies (such as Tor integration and Privacy Pool SDK), decentralized identity (did: ethr standard upgrade), DAO governance research, and public product experimental projects, covering the entire ecosystem from the protocol layer to the application layer.

Overall, this round of funding continues Ethereum's long-term investment in the three core directions of the “Cryptography+ZK+ Protocol Project”, and emphasizes supporting future multi-tier expansion and implementation of institutional-level applications through infrastructure and standardization.

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