Your Weekly Dose of Protocol Updates with ECH!
Strengthening Ethereum standards, governance, and public-goods infrastructure
Overview
Happy New Year 2026! This is the first Protocol Post from ECH Institute. In this edition, we reflect on key moments from 2025 and bring together highlights from ECH Institute’s ongoing work across protocol coordination, governance support, and community initiatives. Our goal is to provide a clear, accessible view into the processes and discussions shaping Ethereum’s public infrastructure.
Ecosystem & Protocol Coordination
Over the past year, ECH has evolved its collaboration with the Ethereum Foundation. As EF now has an in-house dedicated Protocol Support team, ECH has stepped back from serving as the default operator for all breakout-room livestreaming. We have continued to support the livestreaming of core Ethereum protocol meetings - All Core Devs Execution (ACDE) and All Core Devs Consensus (ACDC) to ensure accessibility for the broader community.
While these activities remain valuable, they are no longer the highest-leverage use of ECH’s unique position. This transition helps avoid duplication of efforts and allows ECH to focus more deeply on protocol-centered governance processes, standards coordination infrastructure, and durable public-good artifacts, while expanding our work in education, community building, and increasing contributor diversity supporting Ethereum’s long-term growth as public infrastructure.
Ethereum Protocol Meetings
Typically, the All Core Devs – Testing (ACDT) meeting takes place on Mondays. However, to kick off the year, Ethereum core developers began with ACDE 227 on January 5, 2026, followed by ACDC 172 on Thursday, January 8, 2026. Livestreaming on YouTube and X was supported by Akash Kshirsagar, ensuring community access to both meetings. • ACDE 227 YouTube stream & X-Stream • ACDC 172 X-stream Pooja Ranjan from ECH Institute kicked off ACDE 227 by sharing proposals discussed in the previous EIPIP meeting with the All Core Devs Execution (ACDE) group.
- Introduce ACD-G (All Core Devs – Governance)
- Add Optional “Upgrade” Field to Standards Track Core EIPs
- https://github.com/ethcatherders/EIPIP/issues/397
- Update EIP-7723 for clarity, ref https://github.com/ethereum/EIPs/pull/11006 Community members with opinions on any of these proposals were encouraged to add their comments and feedback.
Weekly Podcasts
The ECH Institute Podcast released two audio versions of Protocol meetings Listen here:
EIP Governance and support
ECH hosted Ethereum Office Hours with EIP Editor SamWilsn, continuing efforts to improve clarity, participation, and process efficiency across the EIP and ERC workflows.
Community & Diversity Highlights
WiEP Brunch — Devconnect 2025
We shared a recap from the Women in Ethereum Protocol (WiEP) Brunch at Devconnect 2025. Many thanks to our multimedia contributor Akash Kshirsagar for capturing and sharing the moments. • Recap here
2025 Recap from ECH Institute
A look back at ECH Institute’s journey, milestones, and contributions throughout 2025. The recap highlights the key initiatives, collaborations, and moments that defined our work over the year, reflecting a continued commitment to strengthening Ethereum’s governance, coordination, and public-goods infrastructure.
Click here to watch Look back at 2025
Public Goods Funding
Octant Epoch 10
ECH Institute is excited to be featured as one of Octant’s “Best of the Best” projects in Epoch 10. The allocation window is now open, and community support helps sustain our public-goods-aligned work.
Support & Learn More:
By participating and allocating to ECH Institute, community members help sustain open coordination, shared infrastructure, and collaborative governance across the ecosystem.
Perspectives from Contributors
ECH contributors continued sharing insights on Ethereum’s positioning, decentralization, and ecosystem dynamics. Founder Pooja Ranjan shared her perspective on Ethereum’s evolving role within the broader ecosystem.
- Ethereum Is Not Innovation, It’s Digital Infrastructure
- Ethereum Magicians post.
- Watch the proposal presentation
Thank You
Thank you to everyone who participated, tuned in, shared feedback, and supported ECH Institute’s work this week. Your engagement helps keep Ethereum’s standards and governance processes open, transparent and accessible. Follow us for more updates on Twitter: ECHInstitute
Support public goods. Strengthen Ethereum. Remember to visit our official website, blogs, YouTube, Podcast and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn & Farcaster for more updates.