We believe one previously announced effort at 28nm is using eASIC, so their cores are *much* bigger than they have to be. Of course their startup costs are much lower too, but it impacts the performance a lot.
There was speculation that KnC was coursing towards an eASIC solution, in part because of OrSoC's relationship with them. This has subsequently been denied, as indicated in a post below yours.
There are also rumors, which you probably have heard yourself situated as you are, of private development seeking an eASIC solution. This, of course, would be partially motivated by such extant advantages as indicated under the -Cryption section of their cores page:
http://www.easic.com/easic-ez-ip-cores/