News linked to both this project and an event.
Josh Stark, a key researcher and project manager at the Ethereum Foundation, announced that after five years of service, he has decided to depart and complete his transition—this decision was made in early March, and his work at the Ethereum Foundation will conclude by the end of April. Stark stated he currently has no concrete plans for the future and intends first to take an extended break and spend time with family and friends. He expressed deep honor in having worked on Ethereum at the Ethereum Foundation and extended gratitude to numerous leadership team members and community partners for their long-term collaboration. Stark also noted that the Ethereum ecosystem has repeatedly achieved goals once widely deemed “impossible,” including network launch, the real-world deployment of decentralized finance (DeFi), and the successful transition to proof-of-stake (PoS). Earlier this week, Trent Van Epps, another Ethereum Foundation contributor, also resigned.
Trent.eth, a member of the Ethereum Foundation, posted on X stating that he is no longer affiliated with the EF as of last Friday. He expressed respect for his collaborators across the team over the past five years on network upgrades and funding support efforts. Trent Van Epps also noted that, subject to available funding, he will continue participating in the Protocol Guild and work related to Ethereum’s political economy.
The Ethereum Foundation has partnered with Nethermind (an Ethereum infrastructure developer), Chainlink Labs (an on-chain data services provider), Areta.io (a smart contract auditing firm), and several top-tier auditing firms to launch the Trillion Dollar Security Initiative, introducing the Ethereum Security Subsidy Program—a $1 million fund offering security audit subsidies for Ethereum developers. This program aims to reduce the cost of security audits and improve developers’ access to audit services, thereby further strengthening the security of the Ethereum ecosystem. Audit applications will be jointly reviewed by the aforementioned organizations and will support CROPS (Chain-on Resource Optimization Project) and novel use-case projects. While security audits are considered an industry best practice, their high cost has limited adoption; this initiative seeks to encourage broader uptake of audit services across projects.
Odaily News The Ethereum Foundation announced on platform X the launch of the "Ethereum Audit Subsidy Program," collaborating with multiple auditing and infrastructure organizations to provide developers with subsidies for security audit costs, aiming to enhance the overall security of the ecosystem. The program is led by the EF's "Trillion Dollar Security Initiative" and is being advanced in collaboration with partners such as Nethermind, Chainlink Labs, and Areta, which will evaluate and review applicant projects. The Ethereum Foundation stated that while security audits are considered industry best practice, their costs are high. This initiative aims to lower the barrier to development and support the implementation of more innovative use cases and projects within the Ethereum ecosystem.