Twin goals of EF:

1. Usage of Ethereum - but usage of a type where users are actually benefiting from Ethereum's underlying properties
2. Resilience and decentralization of Ethereum - viewed holistically, focused on addressing points of weakness anywhere in the stack

And my personal focuses for 2025:

1. Ethereum, particularly:

(i) L1 long-term roadmap (eg. single-slot finality, long-term VM, statelessness, security / resilience / decentralization)
(ii) full-stack security, open source and privacy: ensuring Ethereum is usable in a way that is highly secure, free of centralized intermediaries and privacy-friendly, incl higher up the stack (apps, wallets...)

2. Big-picture d/acc (see https://vitalik.eth.limo/general/2025/01/05/dacc2.html ):

* comms tools, info and social layer, mechanism design eg. governance, pubgoods/open source funding
* cryptography, OS, hardware, physical infra, bio defense

Meanwhile areas that are important but where I am relatively less involved (and others excel):

* @gakonst @ansgar.eth @dankrad and others are taking on practicals of short-term scaling (eg. 10x the L1 gaslimit within 2026)
* p2p, block construction, other research areas
* @hww @tkstanczak are leading many EF matters
* proven app layer categories (eg. defi, payments/savings)

Ethereum protocol R&D. Admirer of emergent order.

cto & general partner @paradigm. ceo /ithaca. working with /rust on /ethereum. building /reth and /foundry. https://gakonst.com

Ethereum R&D || Bulbasaur Research intern

Nethermind Starknet Twinstake Oiler Forta flashbots

Love the continued emphasis on privacy + open source at the UX layer, wallets and apps feel like the final boss for mainstream adoption. Curious if you think account abstraction will be the bridge here or if we need something else entirely?