Apply for Funding

Thanks for your interest in OpenSats!

We're incredibly grateful to contributors like you working to support Bitcoin, nostr, and other free and open-source projects.

Because OpenSats is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, all applications must be vetted by our board of directors to ensure that they help us further our mission of supporting contributors to Bitcoin, nostr, and related free and open-source projects.

We also distribute grants from our general fund and you may also choose to apply for a grant below.

Criteria

All applications should be made with the following criteria in mind:

  • Bitcoin
  • Free and Open-Source
  • Transparency & Education

Our grant selection process involves the evaluation of multiple criteria, but these three are crucial for any successful application.

Bitcoin: We prioritize projects that will have a direct impact on the utility or adoption of Bitcoin. We will consider all projects but prefer projects that are not readily funded and which have an obvious benefit to the Bitcoin community and ecosystem. Potential projects include Bitcoin Core contributions, scientific/security research, code review, design/UX improvements, etc.

Free and Open-Source: OpenSats supports free and open-source software, tools, and contributors which complement Bitcoin and help Bitcoin reach its fullest potential. Potential areas of interest include secure messaging, merchant acceptance tools, layer two protocols, etc. Source code and documents resulting from funded projects must be made publicly available for access, edit, and redistribution free of charge and without restrictions.

Transparency & Education: Funded contributors and projects should be prepared to share their experience and expertise with the greater community. We prefer developers who actively engage in mentorship, and help introduce Bitcoin software development to newcomers. If your application is approved, we will reach out with any additional information necessary to ensure you are able to receive donation payouts. This may include tax related information depending on your location and/or bitcoin addresses in order to receive donation payouts from OpenSats.

Our Programs

All our programs are open to applicants worldwide. We are global and nym-friendly.

OpenSats does not discriminate in its grant selection process applicants, whether internal or external, because of race, creed, color, age, national origin, ancestry, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, genetic information, veteran status, military status, application for military service or any other class per local, state or federal law.

Applications should be well written, informative, and concise. A great application will fit comfortably on one page while containing all information that is required to assess and judge the project or applicant.

General Grant

General grants are funded by donations to the OpenSats General Fund and will be distributed periodically by our board. We evaluate and assess all applications to make sure grants are awarded to high impact projects in the Bitcoin space.

Apply for an OpenSats General Grant

Long-Term Support

We have a limited number of long-term support grants available for projects that are critical to the Bitcoin ecosystem. These grants are geared towards developers and maintainers of Bitcoin Core and similar.

Apply for an OpenSats LTS Grant