- The Ethereum Foundation and partners fund $900,000 ZK L2 development.
- It encourages ideas from performance to UX/UI in ZK L2s.
- Interested parties can pply by March 18 for ZK L2 ecosystem contributions.
The Ethereum Foundation, in partnership with Aztec, Polygon, Scroll, Taiko, and zkSync, has initiated the first ZK Grants Round, encouraging research and development for Zero-Knowledge proofs and standards for ZK L2s. A collaborative effort within the Ecosystem Support Program, each collaborator contributed $150K, totaling an impressive $900K prize pool.
The grants initiative seeks proposals in various areas, including performance benchmarking, ZK DevX improvements, security benchmarking, inclusion tools for ZK and validity-proof based L2s, zkDSL transpilers, hardware acceleration, and multi-prover systems. A comprehensive wishlist provides details on the high-level topics.
Open to individuals, teams, and organizations, applicants must submit a written proposal in English, detailing the scope of work, budget, and timeline, along with an applicant profile and a link to published work. The application window is from February 21st to March 18th, 2024. Projects must be open source, aligned with the round’s goals, and serve as public goods benefiting the Ethereum ZK L2 ecosystem.
Projects are evaluated based on their potential impact on the Ethereum ZK L2 ecosystem, overall value to multiple L2s, documentation clarity, and the capability of the individual or team. Eligible projects should align with the round’s goals and be open source. However, financial products, art projects, and those requesting retroactive funding are not eligible.
With applications closing on March 18th, 2024, successful proposals will be notified 6-8 weeks after the deadline. The initiative reflects a collective effort to enhance the Ethereum ZK L2 ecosystem, fostering growth and development in the blockchain space.
