Protocol Guild is a collective fund that supports Ethereum Layer 1 core protocol contributors through long-term, onchain token vesting. It maintains a publicly verifiable registry of active contributors and distributes donated assets directly to individuals, providing supplementary income that rewards sustained participation in Ethereum's core research, development, and coordination work.
Unlike traditional grant programs or foundations, Protocol Guild does not evaluate proposals, direct work, or influence protocol governance. It operates as a self-curated membership organization: contributors across client teams, research groups, and coordination roles collectively maintain the registry, while smart contracts manage fund custody, vesting, and distribution.
Launched as a one-year pilot in May 2022 with 111 members, Protocol Guild has grown to over 190 contributors across approximately 30 teams. As of 2025, it has received more than $100 million in cumulative donations from ecosystem projects, DAOs, institutions, and individuals.
What This Fund Does
Protocol Guild provides a neutral, onchain funding channel that helps close the long-standing compensation gap for Ethereum's core protocol contributors.
In practice, it enables:
- Supplementary compensation for core contributors through multi-year token vesting that rewards sustained participation in Ethereum Layer 1 R&D.
- A shared donation channel for ecosystem projects to support the infrastructure they rely on, without coordinating individual grants across teams.
- The 1% Pledge, establishing a social norm for token-based projects to allocate a portion of supply toward Ethereum core development.
- Contributor retention, by distributing support over multiple years rather than as one-time grants.
- Credible neutrality, by directing funds to individuals rather than teams or organizations, reducing concentrated influence over protocol direction.
This approach addresses a persistent incentive imbalance: Ethereum core protocol work underpins hundreds of billions of dollars in ecosystem value, yet contributor compensation remains significantly below market rates.
Features
Protocol Guild uses onchain infrastructure and lightweight governance to manage membership, vesting, and distribution, while keeping decision-making narrowly scoped and contributor-led. Smart contracts handle custody and payouts, while members collectively govern registry updates.
Core Components
- Onchain membership registry: A self-curated, publicly verifiable list of active Ethereum Layer 1 contributors, updated quarterly through member votes.
- Long-term vesting: Donated assets are distributed over a multi-year period on Ethereum mainnet, supporting stability and retention.
- Proportional distribution: Funds are allocated to members based on time-weighted participation, with permissionless claiming.
- Longevity-weighted shares: Allocation increases with sustained contribution over time, rewarding continuity while limiting outsized early advantage.
- Equal-weight governance: Members participate in one-person-one-vote decisions for registry updates.
Fund Characteristics
- Donation-funded: Protocol Guild holds no discretionary treasury; all funds come from voluntary contributions.
- Non-directional: Donations do not influence contributor focus, roadmaps, or protocol priorities.
- Fully onchain and transparent: Membership, vesting schedules, and fund flows are publicly verifiable.
- Open donations: Any address can contribute ETH or ERC-20 tokens at any time.
- Operational allocation: A fixed 5% allocation supports legal, operational, and administrative costs.
Use Cases
Ecosystem Projects Supporting Core Infrastructure
Projects built on Ethereum use Protocol Guild to support the Layer 1 infrastructure they depend on without coordinating individual grants across teams. The 1% Pledge provides a standardized way for token-based projects to commit a portion of their native token supply toward Ethereum core development, with notable participation from projects such as ether.fi, Taiko, Puffer Finance, and EigenLayer. This model distributes responsibility for protocol maintenance across the ecosystem rather than concentrating it within a single foundation or funder.
Core Protocol Contributors Seeking Supplementary Compensation
Ethereum client developers, consensus researchers, testing engineers, and coordination leads participate in Protocol Guild to receive long-term, token-based supplementary income alongside their primary salaries. Support is distributed over multiple years, aligning compensation with sustained contribution rather than short-term milestones. Survey data from 2025 indicates that core protocol contributors earn substantially below comparable market rates, and a majority of participating members report that Protocol Guild support is very or extremely important to their ability to continue contributing to Ethereum.
DAOs and Community Treasuries Funding Public Goods
DAOs and community treasuries contribute to Protocol Guild as a low-overhead channel for public goods funding that avoids the complexity and subjectivity of evaluating individual grant applications. Notable contributions include $3.4 million from the Arbitrum community and over $700K each from Moloch DAO and Nouns DAO, reflecting demand for a collective fund that supports shared infrastructure while preserving neutrality and transparency.
Institutional and Financial Sponsors Aligning with Ethereum
Institutional actors with exposure to Ethereum use Protocol Guild contributions to support long-term protocol sustainability while signaling alignment with the ecosystem's core values. VanEck's commitment to donate 10% of profits from its Spot Ether ETF illustrates how traditional financial institutions can support Ethereum's public goods through onchain distribution, without influencing protocol governance or development priorities.