Key Points
- Maelstrom, an investment fund established by Arthur Hayes’ family office, has initiated a Bitcoin Grant Program to foster ecosystem growth.
- The grant will financially back developers working on projects to improve Bitcoin’s technical aspects, with a focus on scalability, resilience, censorship resistance, and privacy.
Maelstrom, a venture fund set up by Arthur Hayes’ family office, has revealed the start of a new Bitcoin (BTC) Grant Program. This initiative is designed to bolster the growth of the ecosystem.
The fund declared on July 17 that the program will offer financial aid to software developers working on groundbreaking projects. These projects aim to enhance the technical development of the blockchain protocol that was first launched in 2009.
Program’s Goals and Details
The grant’s main objective is to tackle essential challenges that the Bitcoin blockchain faces. These include scalability, resilience, censorship resistance, and privacy features.
The Bitcoin network is currently grappling with scalability issues leading to transaction delays during high activity periods. This is due to its dependence on miners for confirming and validating blocks.
Developers will receive financial support from Maelstrom’s grant to enhance the protocol’s processing times. They will do this by developing projects similar to the Lightning Network (LN), which aims to increase transaction speed. The program is open to developers worldwide and will run for 12 months. Applications are to be submitted before August 25, 2024.
Successful applicants will receive backing ranging from $50,000 to $150,000 in capital. The funds will be disbursed monthly, with an annual cap of $250,000. Grants are planned to be awarded between Q3 and Q4 2024. Payments will be made in BTC, USDC, or USDT stablecoins.
Supporting Bitcoin’s Development
Grantees will be expected to actively contribute to Bitcoin’s technical development. This could involve participating in pull requests, conducting code reviews, or contributing to the ongoing evolution of the Bitcoin Core software project.
Maelstrom’s decision to launch the program is rooted in its commitment to “give back and contribute to Bitcoin technology”. The company heavily relies on the efforts of open-source Bitcoin developers.
The fund has played a significant role in nurturing growth within the Bitcoin ecosystem and the broader crypto market. Maelstrom typically invests between $100,000 and $250,000 in new startups within the crypto industry. These investments involve a mix of equity stakes and tokens.
Earlier this year in April, the Arthur Hayes family fund led a $14 million investment round for Ethena Labs. They are the creators of the Ethereum-based stablecoin USDe.
In the previous year, Maelstrom also participated in a $5 million funding round for D3 Global, a decentralized domain name company. Arthur Hayes stated that the fund’s major focus was start-ups that concentrate on infrastructures. He noted that the fund would support projects with strong potential to withstand market volatility.
