Glossary
EIP (Ethereum Improvement Proposal)
16/04/2026
An EIP (Ethereum Improvement Proposal) is a standardized design document used to propose changes to the Ethereum protocol — new features, standards, or bug fixes. EIPs are the primary mechanism through which Ethereum evolves, and the process is open to anyone.
EIPs are analogous to BIPs (Bitcoin Improvement Proposals) in the Bitcoin ecosystem.
Types of EIPs
| Type | Description | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Core | Protocol-level changes requiring a hard fork | EIP-1559, EIP-3675 (The Merge) |
| ERC | Token and interface standards | ERC-20 (fungible tokens), ERC-721 (NFTs) |
| Networking | P2P layer changes | — |
| Interface | API and ABI standards | — |
| Meta | Process, governance changes | — |
Notable EIPs
- EIP-1559 — introduced the base fee burn mechanism, making ETH deflationary during high usage
- EIP-3675 — formalized Ethereum's transition to Proof of Stake (The Merge)
- ERC-20 — defined the standard interface for fungible tokens (USDT, UNI, etc.)
EIPs and miners
EIP-1559 (August 2021) was controversial among Ethereum miners because it burned a portion of fees that previously went to miners. EIP-3675 ended Ethereum mining entirely. These examples show how EIPs can directly affect miner economics.
