Grantees will be required to actively contribute to Bitcoin’s technical development, which may involve participating in pull requests, conducting code reviews, or contributing to the ongoing evolution of the Bitcoin Core software project.
Maelstrom, an early-stage investment fund founded by Arthur Hayes’ family office, has announced the launch of a new Bitcoin (BTC) Grant Program aimed at supporting the ecosystem growth.
In an official statement on July 17, the fund announced that the initiative will provide financial support for software developers working on innovative projects to enhance the technical development of the pioneering blockchain protocol launched in 2009.
Program Details and Objectives
The grant aims to address key challenges facing the Bitcoin blockchain, including scalability, resilience, censorship resistance, and privacy features.
Currently, the Bitcoin network faces scalability issues that cause transaction delays, especially during periods of high activity, due to its reliance on miners to confirm and validate blocks.
Through Maelstrom’s grant, developers will receive financial backing to improve the protocol’s processing times by creating projects similar to the Lightning Network (LN) to enhance transaction speed. Maelstrom stated that the program is open to developers worldwide and will run for 12 months. Interested applicants are expected to submit applications before August 25, 2024.
Successful applicants will receive support ranging from $50,000 to $150,000 in capital. The funds will be disbursed monthly, with an annual cap of $250,000. According to the announcement, grants are slated to be awarded between Q3 and Q4 2024. Payments will be made in BTC, USDC, or USDT stablecoins.
Giving Back to the Bitcoin Community
Grantees will be required to actively contribute to Bitcoin’s technical development, which may involve participating in pull requests, conducting code reviews, or contributing to the ongoing evolution of the Bitcoin Core software project.
Maelstrom disclosed that the decision to launch the program stemmed from its commitment to “give back and contribute to Bitcoin technology” as a company that relies heavily on the efforts of open-source Bitcoin developers.
The fund has been instrumental in fostering growth within the Bitcoin ecosystem and the broader crypto market since its inception. Maelstrom typically invests between $100,000 and $250,000 in new startups within the crypto industry, involving a mix of equity stakes and tokens.
Contributions and Investment Focus
Earlier this year in April, the Arthur Hayes family fund led a $14 million investment round for Ethena Labs, the creators of the Ethereum-based stablecoin USDe.
Last year, Maelstrom also participated in a $5 million funding round for D3 Global, a decentralized domain name company. That same year, Arthur Hayes said that the fund’s major focus was start-ups that focus on infrastructures. He noted that the fund will support projects with strong potential to withstand market volatility. “We want to identify projects that are actually quality. It’s not a game of spray-and-pray because we don’t have outside LPs,” he said.
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