Ethereum Client Incentive Program Launched to Help Reward Developers

In an effort to foster development and innovation for Ethereum clients, the Ethereum Foundation has launched a new rewards program.

On Dec 13, the Ethereum Foundation announced that it was launching a Client Incentive Program. Its primary aim is to encourage more diversity in the client ecosystem.

The announcement went on to state that it has been historically difficult for clients to capture value despite them being essential to the network. The new incentive program has been set up to “ensure that client teams have a strong incentive to maintain the core Ethereum network over the long term.”

Vested Ethereum rewards

The program will offer client teams rewards in ETH that are unlocked over time. This is providing they continue to build software that meets the requirements for Ethereum mainnet;

The structure of the program aligns teams with the long term health of the network and ensures they are incentivized to build secure and performant software.

Each client team will receive grants totaling 144 validators, or 4,608 ETH valued at around $17.8 million at current prices, to operate on the mainnet.

Teams eligible for the program include Besu, Erigon, Go Ethereum (Geth), Lighthouse, Lodestar, Nethermind, Nimbus, Prysm, and Teku.

The funds will be available immediately but withdrawals will be vested over several years, it added. The program will begin to provide steady income to client teams post-merger as validators are earning transaction fees. Staking will be another revenue-earning option once the merge has taken place.

The merge is when the ETH 1 chain docks with the ETH 2 Beacon Chain, and it has been slated for some time in the first quarter of 2022.

There will be a week-long developer event in Amsterdam in April 2022 called Devconnect featuring independent Ethereum events.

ETH 2.0 staking update

At the time of press, there was 8.62 million ETH staked on the Beacon Chain. This represents around 7.26% of the total supply and at current prices, is valued at $33.3 billion. Ethereum stakers are currently enjoying a 5.2% annual percentage yield.

The network has burnt 1.19 million ETH since the London upgrade in early August. This is worth roughly $4.6 billion at current prices and equates to around 7,000 ETH or $27 million getting burnt every day at current rates.

Ethereum prices are currently on the downside as crypto markets continue to correct. On Dec 15, ETH was trading at $3,860 after dropping 10% over the past week. It’s currently down nearly 20% from its Nov 10 all-time high of $4,878.

Earlier this week, Bloomberg analysts predicted that deflationary assets such as Ethereum would remain bullish into 2022.