Next Billion Fellowship: Key Innovations in the Ethereum Protocol
The Next Billion Fellowship program is supporting innovators who are enhancing trust and experience in the Ethereum protocol. The initiative covers various areas, from journalism to environmental protection, and is changing how communities and organizations interact with blockchain technology.
What is the Next Billion Fellowship and Why is it Central to Ethereum?
The user experience concerns individual interaction with an application, while the world experience represents collective interaction with a protocol. Ethereum, as a world computer, allows multiple communities to experience trust through new coordination models. The fellowship supports people committed to enhancing these trust experiences and developing new use cases for the protocol.

Stories of Innovation: Inspiring Experiences of Alumni
Several projects demonstrate the potential of Ethereum and blockchain technology:
- Devansh Mehta has developed a marketplace that transforms journalism results into tradable impact certificates, sustainably funding civic journalism.
- Guo Liu’s Billboard Protocol transforms digital advertising into community-controlled assets, promoting participatory web management.
- Lefteris Arapakis is using blockchain to regenerate marine commons through Enaleia, tracing plastic recovery supply chains.
- An emerging project in South Africa is exploring blockchain-based commitment pooling to revitalize indigenous economic practices.
- Valeriia Panina documents how crypto and blockchain are changing trust paradigms in Ukraine.
The New Group of Next Billion Fellowship: Innovations Driving the Future
New projects include:
- Mashbean is developing resilient digital identity solutions in Taiwan using Ethereum’s trustless properties.
- Sharfy Adamantine is linking climate financing to local conservation actions through Gainforest.
- Teodor Petricevic is leading blockchain initiatives at the UN Development Programme.
- Robert Cowlishaw is developing a prototype app using zero-knowledge proofs and satellite images for natural emergency response.
Future Prospects and the Importance of Trust in Ethereum Protocol
The Next Billion Fellowship demonstrates Ethereum’s potential impact across multiple dimensions, from environment to governance. Success depends on integrating technological innovation with real needs and maintaining dialogue with end users. Programs like this fellowship are essential for building an inclusive digital future where blockchain offers shared values.
The challenge remains to build digital worlds that generate trust and coordination globally, making blockchain a tool for people and communities.