The Ethereum Protocol Fellowship (EPF) is a structured entry point into core protocol development, covering client implementations, consensus and execution layer research, testing, and network specifications. It is not a course for smart contract developers or dApp builders. The distinction matters: the protocol layer is where the canonical rules of the Ethereum network are written and maintained, and it has historically drawn contributors almost entirely from North America and Western Europe.

The fourth cohort received more than 400 applications. The foundation selected 35 fellows and awarded five additional retroactive stipends to contributors who participated outside the formal selection process. That permissionless model, where anyone can begin contributing before receiving a stipend offer, is central to how the program operates. According to the program's official documentation, "our goal is to provide an opportunity for you to get paid to learn." Stipend amounts are negotiated individually rather than set at a fixed global rate, which may allow the foundation to account for cost-of-living differences across regions, though this is not explicitly stated in program documentation.

By the time the EPF4 recap was published in April 2024, the cohort had completed 35 projects and submitted roughly 600 weekly progress updates, with 27 core developer mentors providing guidance throughout the program. Contributions included work on Verkle tree implementations, EIP-7212, Portal Network research, and Single Slot Finality research.

Fellows also built epf.wiki, a collaboratively maintained knowledge base for Ethereum protocol education. Looking at the broader alumni pipeline across all cohorts, the EPF3 recap published in May 2023 reported that 10 graduates had moved into full-time protocol roles. An additional 5 alumni had taken on adjacent ecosystem roles with teams including Lighthouse, Teku, Prysm, Ethereum Foundation Research, Flashbots, and Optimism.

The EPF3 recap put it plainly: "Many EPF fellows have made valuable contributions to the Ethereum core ecosystem, and some have secured long-term positions on core teams like Lighthouse, Teku, Prysm, Ethereum Foundation Research, Flashbots, Optimism and others."

Regional Context: Who the Program Could Realistically Reach

The geographic choice of Istanbul for the cohort's closing event was not incidental. Istanbul sits at a midpoint between South Asia, East Africa, and Eastern Europe, and it reduces both the cost and the logistical barriers for applicants from those regions compared to attending a conference in the United States.

That matters because the developer pipeline the EPF is drawing from is shifting. According to Electric Capital's 2024 developer report, India now accounts for 17 percent of all new crypto developers globally, ranking first in the world. Asia overall accounts for roughly one in three active crypto developers. South Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, West Africa, and Southern Europe collectively saw 20 percent growth in active developers since 2018, according to the Electric Capital 2023 Developer Report.

Ethereum remained the leading protocol by developer share on every continent, and the network counted approximately 7,487 monthly active developers at its 2023 peak, with 16,747 newcomer developers entering the ecosystem that year.

Africa presents a specific structural gap the EPF could help address. The continent represents about 3 percent of global blockchain developers, growing at 6 percent year-over-year as of 2024, with Ethereum dominating the local ecosystem. Nigeria alone has an estimated 300,000 blockchain developers. But the overwhelming majority of African Ethereum contributors work at the application layer, building smart contracts, DeFi protocols, and L2 integrations. Based on available documentation, almost none are contributors to Ethereum consensus or execution clients.

The EPF is one of the few programs that could change that trajectory, provided the self-directed work format suits applicants who may be accustomed to more structured learning environments.

The Ethereum Foundation runs a separate program, the Next Billion Fellowship, that funds real-world adoption projects in the Global South and has documented fellows from India, Bangladesh, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, and South Africa. The EPF is the technical counterpart, targeting deep infrastructure contributors rather than community builders or product developers.

What Comes Next

The EPF has run four cohorts and is refining its model with each cycle. Fellow count grew from 23 in cohort three to 35 in cohort four, and the volume of projects and weekly documentation grew alongside it. At the same time, total applications declined from more than 600 in cohort three to more than 400 in cohort four. Whether that shift reflects changes in applicant awareness, a more selective reputation, or simple year-to-year variation is worth tracking as the program matures.

The creation of epf.wiki represents, at a practical level, a step toward reducing the knowledge barrier that makes Ethereum protocol development feel inaccessible to developers who did not come up through established research circles or client teams.

For developers outside the traditional hubs, the program's combination of individualized stipends, remote-first structure, and permissionless entry makes it one of the more accessible pathways into Ethereum's core infrastructure. According to Electric Capital research, roughly 71 percent of all smart contract code powering applications like DeFi and NFTs is initially built on Ethereum and later reconfigured to fit other ecosystems, a figure that speaks to Ethereum's role as the originating platform for much of the industry's codebase.

Applications for future cohorts are announced through the Ethereum Foundation blog at blog.ethereum.org. This article is a retrospective account of the fourth cohort, which concluded in November 2023. Readers interested in whether subsequent cohorts have launched or are currently open should consult the Ethereum Foundation blog for the most current information.