Maelstrom Fund, the crypto investment fund led by BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes, has announced a new grant program aimed at supporting Bitcoin developers. The initiative, called the Bitcoin Grant Program, will offer funding ranging from $50,000 to $150,000 per developer annually, with a cap of $250,000 per year through grant stacking.

In its official announcement, Maelstrom stated that "Bitcoin is the bedrock asset in the crypto space, and unlike other projects, Bitcoin never conducted an offering to raise funds for its technical development.” The program aims to enhance Bitcoin's "resilience, scalability, censorship resistance, and privacy characteristics."

Grants will be issued for 12-month periods, with monthly payments made in BTC, USDC, or USDT. Grantees are expected to contribute to Bitcoin's technical development, potentially through pull requests or code reviews for the Bitcoin Core software project.

Hayes, Maelstrom's chief investment officer, will serve on the review committee alongside Jonathan Bier of Farside Investors, who is the grant program administrator.

According to Maelstrom's website, the investment firm touts a long-term perspective with up to a 50-year horizon, and targets venture-stage investments between $100,000 and $250,000. Maelstrom’s portfolio includes projects such as Ethena Labs, Aethir, and Pendle.

This grant initiative arrives at a time of renewed interest in Bitcoin development, sparked by the approval of U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs and the recent Bitcoin halving in April. It could potentially fuel innovation in Bitcoin-native DeFi, amid recent moves that include an array of Bitcoin scaling networks and also native Bitcoin staking on chains like Ethereum and Solana.

The launch of the Bitcoin Grant Program aligns with recent public statements from the outspoken Hayes on Bitcoin’s role in society. In a Substack post, Hayes argued that "Bitcoin is digital speech,” and “the fact that Bitcoin is a monetary instrument does not invalidate it from constitutional protection from government interference."

Developers interested in applying for the grant program must submit their applications by August 25. According to the announcement, the selection process will include at least one interview with Hayes and/or Bier prior to the issuance of a grant, with awards set to come sometime in Q3 or Q4.

Edited by Andrew Hayward