Btrust grants are open to developers across Africa, India, Latin America, MENA, and Southeast Asia. Although these regions are the primary focus, we may also consider developers from other areas in the Global South on a case-by-case basis, contingent on their Proof of Work. The priority is to ensure that talented developers from these diverse backgrounds have the opportunity to contribute to the Bitcoin ecosystem.
The Btrust Starter Grant provides full-time funding to qualified software engineers to start contributing to open-source Bitcoin projects to identify a focus/niche for long-term contribution. This grant program sets the stage for engineers to contribute meaningfully, build credibility, and find direction through sustained contributions to open-source projects without worrying about livelihood.
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Each grantee in the cohort will be paid in BTC to work full-time on open-source projects
Access to mentors and peer support to navigate any challenges
Btrust operations team share regular updates on open-source exploration and contributions
Put together competitive, data-backed proposals for more extensive support on the project selected
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Working in open-source can be a lonely experience, especially for experienced software developers from regions like the Global South, where uncertainties about pay and career prospects can make it less appealing.
Our Open-Source Cohort approach aims to change that by providing an opportunity to work on Bitcoin open-source projects as an individual contributor within a team structure and receive monthly payments through a grant.
The Btrust Open-Source Cohort enriches the existing grant model with additional structure to make it easier for grantees to sustainably contribute to Bitcoin open-source development. We will iterate on this model as we learn, leveraging the following structure:
We pair each developer in the cohort with a technical mentor from their project of interest who will help them navigate its norms and become familiar with its codebase.
As is standard in engineering environments, cohort members are supported by a manager responsible for professional development and personal support.
Although cohort members are free to work on separate projects, they will operate as an engineering team with daily standups and events to build a sense of belonging and community within the cohort.
We actively communicates with the projects that cohort members choose to work on to ensure that cohort members positively impact the project.
To encourage long-term thinking and projects, new cohort members are contracted for a year, with the option to renew for a second year upon mutual agreement. Renewal terms after a successful two-year term will scale with time spent in the cohort.
We provide additional support to ensure cohort members can focus on efficient contributions to Bitcoin open-source projects. This support will include stipends for hardware suitable for Bitcoin development and travel support to connect with the developer community at conferences.
Each developer in the cohort is paid monthly in BTC to work full-time on open-source projects.
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