What Is Ethereum's EIP Proposal Mechanism? How Can Ordinary People Participate?
Conclusion: EIP is a proposal process open to anyone, but "participation" for ordinary people does not mean "writing code"
Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) are a technical proposal mechanism thatanyone can propose. Any individual in the community has the ability to create an EIP. However, note that this is not a "voting button" form of participation.
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The bar for submitting a well-formed EIP is high, and historically most EIP authors are application or protocol developers. Therefore, the most direct way for ordinary people to participate in the EIP mechanism is not to write code proposals themselves, but to contribute throughpeer review, community discussion, and governance observation.
Below are participation paths tailored to different backgrounds and levels of interest.
1. What Is an EIP? Understand the Mechanism Before Participating
An EIP is a standard document that specifies potential new features or processes for Ethereum, containing the technical specification of proposed changes, serving as the community's "source of truth."
Role of EIPs: They are the core method for making and recording changes to Ethereum, and the basic unit of community governance.
Types of EIPs: IncludeCore EIPs(low-level protocol changes affecting consensus, requiring network upgrades, e.g., EIP-1559),ERCs(application-layer standards, e.g., ERC-20 and ERC-721 token standards),Meta EIPs(process-related), and Informational EIPs (providing guidelines).
2. Specific Participation Paths for Ordinary People
Path 1: No Coding Required — Participate in Discussions and Governance
This is the stage most users can engage in.
Discuss proposals on the Ethereum Magicians forum: Before submitting a formal EIP draft, proposals are first discussed with the community on theEthereum Magiciansforum. You can read proposal ideas, understand different community positions, and raise your own questions or viewpoints.
Participate in EIP governance: Anyone can take part in EIP governance discussions. This allows you to understand Ethereum's evolution direction earlier.
Follow the EIP GitHub repository: In the EIP GitHub repository, you can see proposals at different stages (Draft, Review, Last Call, Final). Understanding the status mechanism helps you judge how far a proposal is from implementation.
Path 2: Technical Background — Write or Review EIPs
If you have a technical foundation, you can participate more deeply.
Write an EIP: Before submitting a proposal, youmust read EIP-1, which outlines the EIP process and how to write an EIP. Then, seek feedback on Ethereum Magicians and submit a Pull Request via GitHub.
Peer review EIPs: Even if you don't write proposals, you canpeer reviewexisting EIPs. You can check unmerged pull requests (PRs) with the
e-reviewlabel and provide technical feedback in the corresponding discussion links. This directly helps improve proposal quality.
Path 3: Researchers and Scholars — Theoretical Contributions
If you have a background in mathematics, cryptography, or economics, EIPs are just part of ecosystem participation.
Write or review EIPs: Contribute your expertise at the protocol design level.
Participate in core research forums: Engage in discussions onEthresear.ch(Ethereum's primary research forum) or follow theEthereum Foundation Research AMA(Q&A series).
Apply for research grants: Check theEcosystem Support Program Wishlistto understand research areas the Ethereum ecosystem is seeking funding for, and apply for relevant grants.
3. Important Limitations to Note
Core EIPs require broad consensus: EIPs are divided into multiple types. Core EIPs that affect the underlying protocol must be widely adopted because all nodes must upgrade to stay on the same network. This requires broader community consensus than non-core EIPs.
Ordinary people don't need to handle EIPs directly: For the vast majority of regular users, you don't need to write or review EIPs directly. Byfollowing community discussionsandunderstanding how implemented EIPs affect the network(e.g., EIP-1559 changed the gas fee mechanism), you are already engaging meaningfully.
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4. How to Verify Your Participation
If you're unsure about your level of involvement, the most direct way to check is:
Open theEthereum Magicians forum; if you have posted or commented, you have participated in the discussion stage.
Check theEIP GitHub repositoryfor PRs with the
e-reviewlabel; if you have left technical comments on them, you have participated in the peer review stage.
