Arthur Hayes Launches Bitcoin Developer Grant Program

Arthur Hayes, the co-founder of BitMEX, has unveiled a grant program to advance the technical development of Bitcoin, the world’s first blockchain network through his early-stage investment fund, Maelstrom.

The program aims to support Bitcoin open-source developers and promote network development, enhancing its resilience, scalability, censorship resistance, and privacy.

Announcing the @MaelstromFund #Bitcoin Developer Grant Program. As loyal followers of Lord Satoshi, we are doing our part to spread the word. Please apply on our website, link below, if you would like to submit a proposal.https://t.co/3xOdyrjTzS

— Arthur Hayes (@CryptoHayes) July 17, 2024

Details of the Grant Program

According to an announcement, the grant program is aimed at helping open-source developers engage in the development of the Bitcoin protocol. The program will focus on increasing the security, capacity, anti-censorship, and anonymisation features of Bitcoin.

“Maelstrom, like other companies in the space, indirectly relies on the work of open-source Bitcoin developers. We are therefore keen to give back and donate to the Bitcoin technology, on which the crypto ecosystem depends. We can help bitcoin developers and are eager to make sure that all the grants are clear,” states Maelstrom’s official website.

Furthermore, the grant program will provide developers with financial assistance varying from $50,000 to a maximum of $150,000 per applicant and will be issued across 12 months in monthly installments in Bitcoin (BTC), USD Coin (USDC), and Tether (USDT).

Proposed grantees will be required to participate in the technical growth of Bitcoin such as submitting pull requests or reviewing work associated with the Bitcoin Core software project.

To benefit from the program, applications should be submitted before August 25, and grants are scheduled to be awarded in the third or fourth quarter of this year.

Overview of Maelstrom

Maelstrom is a family office fund founded by Arthur Hayes that invests in various DeFi projects. Its goal is to develop a strong and diversified position in infrastructure companies over the long term to catalyze the next round of durable trustless decentralization.

Maelstrom’s recent investments include modular network project Elixir, synthetic dollar protocol Ethena and bitcoin trading app Oyl.

The Maelstrom newly launched grant program has the potential to stimulate a new wave of innovation in Bitcoin-based DeFi. This would not only strengthen Bitcoin’s position in the cryptocurrency sector, but it could also encourage more users and investors to adopt and use DeFi.