Author: Michael Johnson
Hi Ethereum frens, With just 13 days to go until Devcon, we’re amazed by how huge this year’s event will be! Our expected number of attendees has doubled since last time (12,000 vs. 6,000 in Bogotá), we have more than twice the number of Community Hubs and Impact Spaces, and we received double the amount of talk submissions. The Ethereum ecosystem has evolved significantly in its technology, and as the community has grown stronger, more global, and more active than ever. You will witness this all at Devcon SEA, through both technical content for developers as well as sessions for…
After scoping the Pectra fork, a successful interop event and four devnets, we’re now launching the first short-lived Pectra testnet: Mekong! The Mekong testnet includes all the EIPs proposed for the upcoming Pectra fork on Ethereum. These changes include UX changes via EIP-7702, Staking changes via EIP-7251, changes to the deposits and exit mechanisms via EIP-6110/ EIP-7002 and more. An exhaustive list of the EIPs as well as specifications implemented can be found here. Mekong is meant to be a playground for wallet developers to experiment with UX changes and for stakers to gain confidence in the upcoming changes. The…
Overview The Ethereum Foundation has begun staking a portion of its treasury, in line with its Treasury Policy announced last year. Approximately 70,000 ETH is being staked with rewards directed back to the EF treasury. Architecture & configuration After assessing many good staking software options, the Ethereum Foundation chose to use the open source software options Dirk and Vouch: Dirk serves as a distributed signer, spreading signers across multiple geographic regions. This design eliminates a single point of failure and enhances resilience.Vouch supports the use of multiple Beacon Client and Execution Client pairings with a variety of configurable strategies which can…
The 2025 Ethereum Foundation internship applications are open! Both research and development teams have open positions. Applications close on December 9, 2024. The Ethereum Foundation is running its first formal summer internship program in 2025 aimed at nurturing the next generation of Ethereum developers and researchers. Interns will work alongside EF teams and, with the help of dedicated mentors, contribute directly to core projects in key areas such as protocol security, account abstraction, scaling research, client development, and more. For example, a past intern worked on MEV smoothing research before eventually joining the EF full time. Who is this for?…
The Protocol Security Research Team and the Ecosystem Funding Initiative at the Ethereum Foundation are pleased to announce the launch of the first Ethereum protocol Attackathon with a reward pool of $1,500,000, hosted by Immunefi. The attackathon runs between November 25th and January 20th and aims to enhance the security of the Ethereum protocol through a large-scale crowdsourced security audit competition. We invite the entire Ethereum community — from auditing firms to individual security researchers — to participate in this important event to help secure the Ethereum Protocol. You can get started on your journey into understanding the Ethereum Protocol…
We’re excited to announce that applications for the Next Billion Fellowship Program are now open! What is the Next Billion Fellowship Program? The Next Billion Fellowship Program is a search for stories – tangible, human stories that show how Ethereum is helping communities address the challenges they face. Whether it’s implementing digital badges and wallets for millions of scouts worldwide, creating more efficient and affordable crop insurance for smallholder farmers in Kenya, or exploring the role of decentralized systems during humanitarian crises in Syria, each Fellow’s story helps us see Ethereum’s role in human society, not as an abstract technology,…
The Protocol Security Research Team and the Ecosystem Funding Initiative at the Ethereum Foundation are proud to announce the launch of the ETH Rangers program to help incentivize Public Goods Security Work for the Ethereum Ecosystem. Public Goods Security Work ETH Rangers offers stipends to support individuals who dedicate time to work on public goods security efforts within the Ethereum ecosystem. Over six months, participants will be selected to each receive $25,000 USD. What type of work is considered Public Goods Security work? Public Goods Security work includes efforts to enhance the security and resilience of the Ethereum ecosystem. This…
Community & educationBlockchain Summer BootcampAfrica Blockchain InstituteBootcamp introducing teenagers to blockchain through hands-on learning, workshops, and collaborative projects organized in Cotonou, Benin and taught in French.EmailCommunity & educationBlockHackKerala Blockchain AcademyHackathon hosted in Trivandrum, India with tracks focused on Ethereum onboarding and inclusion, blockchain for Sustainable Development Goals, and building dapps on Ethereum and layer 2s (L2).Community & educationBuilding BuildersWeb3Clubs3-month Solidity program and in-person Solidity bootcamps organized in Nairobi, Kenya.Community & educationCrecimiento ActivitiesSEED OrgSupporting SEED Org’s Ethereum-focused activities at the Crecimiento pop-up city in Buenos Aires, Argentina.Community & educationEEA Industry DayEnterprise Ethereum AllianceConference exploring how Ethereum is powering enterprises globally, hosted…
Devcon has always been a living reflection of Ethereum’s growth, challenges, and community ambitions. It showcases the most pressing topics, the newest innovations, and the people building the future of decentralized technology. As Ethereum grows, so too does Devcon. Two years ago, right before Devcon VI in Bogotá, the Merge took Ethereum’s consensus from proof of work to proof of stake. Devcon VI focused not only on the achievement of this milestone, but also on the next innovations: early Layer-2 development, the introduction of Account Abstraction (AA), and the rise of zero knowledge proofs (ZKPs) as an expansion of Ethereum.…
DeFi isn’t a speculative bet on the future. It’s the inevitable evolution of finance, driven by a fundamental truth: financial autonomy is a right, not a privilege. And it’s been a critical driver of Ethereum’s growth and adoption. We want to see DeFi thrive, but we’re opinionated about what it should look like: permissionless, censorship-resistant, privacy-first, self-custodial, and open source. We recognize the challenges involved in fully getting to this point—our role is to advocate for these principles, support teams working toward them, showcase the ones doing it, and be clear about how to get there and why it matters.…