EIP (Ethereum Improvement Proposal)
A formal design document proposing a new feature, standard, or process change for Ethereum, reviewed and discussed by the community before potential adoption.
An Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) is a formal design document proposing a new feature, technical standard, or process change for Ethereum, submitted for open community review and discussion before potentially being adopted into the network.
EIPs are Ethereum's equivalent of Bitcoin Improvement Proposals (see Kaavon's "Bitcoin Improvement Proposal" glossary definition), and EIP numbers are commonly referenced directly by name for significant changes — EIP-1559 (the transaction-fee mechanism) and EIP-4844 (blob transactions) are two well-known examples Kaavon covers in dedicated guides.
Examples
- EIP-1559 is commonly referenced directly by its proposal number, since it introduced Ethereum's current base-fee-and-burn transaction fee mechanism.
- Not every EIP is actually adopted — the proposal process exists specifically to allow open community review and debate before a change is implemented.