Ethereum ecosystem – blockchain dedicated to smart contracts

Ethereum Foundation a announced grants worth over $ 2 million to enhance Serenity development, the much-anticipated Ethereum 2.0 upgrade.

The Swiss non-profit company said Monday that the funding was made through Protocol Labs, a blockchain thinktank and the ConsenSys studio. The funds will support projects that help launch the “imminent” proof-of-stake blockchain “Beacon Chain.”

The complete list of projects that received funding includes:

• Harmony: $ 189,000 for Beacon Chain development;
• Prysmatic Labs: $ 725,000 for Prysm client development;
• Sigma Prime: $ 485,000 for Lighthouse client development;
• Status: $ 500,000 for Nimbus client, $ 150,000 for nim-libp2p;
• Whiteblock: $ 184,000 for ETH2.0 network testing and testnet support;
• Dmitry Khovratovici: $ 10,000 for the report on Legendre polynomials and functions;
• Chainsafe: $ 217,500 for light development ETH2.0 client “Lodestar”.

The Ethereum ecosystem

In the last few months, the Ethereum Foundation has given $ 2.46 million to seven developer teams. Startups that were previously funded play a key role in the Ethereum ecosystem and include Sigma Prime, Status and Prysmatic Labs.

The launch of ETH2.0 is considered a must for Ethereum to maintain its dominant position as a blockchain dedicated to smart contracts. Currently, the network is experiencing scalability – it can handle only 15 transactions per second. This limitation has resulted in increased transaction fees and confirmation times during periods of intensive use, preventing the platform from realizing its supposed “world computer” potential with millions of users.

Other newer blockchains, such as EOS and TRON, are rivals to be taken seriously if the Serenity upgrade is not implemented soon.