First movers deserve recognition. Today, the Espresso Foundation launches the Espresso Partner Program, a seasonal incentive program that rewards those pioneering teams that have integrated with or contributed to the Espresso Network.

By aligning incentives through strategic token allocations, we aim to foster innovation, strengthen Espresso’s burgeoning community, and accelerate adoption of Espresso as the fastest growing ecosystem of interconnected chains in the Ethereum ecosystem and beyond.

Whether you're an appchain, a rollup ecosystem, or interoperability protocol, the Espresso Partner Program provides tangible benefits for joining us early in building a scalable, composable, unstoppable ecosystem.

Strengthening Espresso Together

As stewards of the Espresso Network, we recognize that its long-term success is intrinsically tied to the strength of the chains and other protocols integrated with it. The more chains plug in, the stronger the network will be.

Launching this program is our commitment to fostering a strong group of pioneers who are building the future of Ethereum with us, creating an aligned ecosystem that rewards technical contributions and shared vision. The program provides tangible incentives to complement the technical benefits of integrating with Espresso: fast, secure, and credibly neutral confirmations; secure, decentralized transaction sequencing; and robust, scalable data availability.

Furthermore, this program will support the growth of the applications and ecosystems integrating with Espresso. Espresso Partners range from established products with millions of users to upstart teams still building in beta. Regardless of where a project is in its product development and adoption, Espresso seeks to act as a deep partner to all those who are building something real and who believe in the power of composability across chains.

This seasonal program is specifically designed for L2s, L3s, and interoperability protocols that are committed to a more united and composable Ethereum—and recognize the value of Espresso’s fast, secure, credibly neutral interoperability layer in helping get us there.

How the Program Works

The Espresso Partner Program will be run by the Espresso Foundation over an anticipated minimum of 24 seasonal rounds during the next several years. Each season will focus on recognizing integration milestones and contributions that occurred during that period. Partners will be allocated tokens from a dedicated portion of the Espresso Network's $ESP token supply, based on:

• Adoption of Espresso: The extent to which projects integrate and utilize Espresso Network's capabilities within their product(s)

• Ecosystem impact: The potential and ongoing impact an integrating project's existing user base and market presence could have on the Espresso Network and its community

• Relationship health: The depth and quality of the ongoing technical and strategic collaboration between Espresso and the project

• Team quality: The expertise, vision, and execution of the project

• Integration effort: The technical complexity and resources invested in implementing a robust integration with Espresso Network

Whether you're one of our longstanding contributors who have helped build custom stack integrations with Espresso or a new chain exploring integration possibilities on testnet, the program provides a structured way to reward those committed to helping strengthen the Espresso Network.

The program is designed to be ongoing, with seasons lasting approximately three months each, though the Espresso Foundation will be constantly reviewing the program in an effort to make it more impactful and beneficial to the community, so reserves the right to modify it in the future.

We’re kicking off with Season 0, for which allocations will be announced in the upcoming weeks.

Not too late to participate in Season 0

While the Espresso Partner Program is designed to reward early and existing contributors, the door remains open for a few more weeks for new projects to be recognized in Season 0. If you're interested in opportunities to partner, please follow and tweet at @EspressoSys with your plans and goals for integrating Espresso.