Ethereum Foundation Opens EPF7 Applications to Bolster Core Protocol Development

YM Lee

Summary

The Ethereum Foundation said it has opened applications for EPF7 to expand its core protocol development workforce despite a broader belt-tightening stance.
This EPF7 cohort will be smaller, but is designed so developers are more closely involved in projects in a strategy aimed at generating more tangible results.
The Ethereum Foundation said it is maintaining support for core development areas such as cryptography, zero-knowledge proofs and Layer 2 while selling part of its ETH holdings to improve treasury efficiency.

Forecast Trend Report by Period

The Ethereum Foundation is seeking to expand its core protocol developer ranks even as it maintains a tighter spending stance.

Cryptopolitan reported on April 30 that the foundation had opened applications for the seventh Ethereum Protocol Fellowship, or EPF7. Applications will be accepted through May 13, and the program will run for about six months from June to November.

EPF7 is designed to bring new developers into Ethereum core protocol development. Selected participants will receive mentoring from current core developers as well as a monthly stipend. This cohort will be smaller than previous ones, with a greater emphasis on deeper involvement.

The foundation said it cut the number of participants so developers can work more closely on projects. The strategy is aimed at driving more tangible contributions and results.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said in January that the foundation had entered a period of gradual belt-tightening this year. At the time, the foundation held about 172,000 ETH, and its annual spending, which had reached as much as $100 million, had drawn criticism.

The foundation's holdings now stand at about 92,500 ETH after it sold part of its reserves in a push to improve treasury efficiency.

At the same time, the foundation has maintained support for core development areas. Its funding allocation report for the first quarter of 2026 showed continued support for fields including cryptography, zero-knowledge proofs, security tools and protocol research.

Projects listed in the report included maintenance of the EthereumJS TypeScript stack, development of the Lighthouse client, operation of Layer 2 analytics platform L2BEAT, and a performance benchmarking project testing state sizes 10 times larger than the Ethereum mainnet.

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