Brink Grants and Fellowship

Year-long, full-time grants for established Bitcoin protocol developers, plus a paid one-year fellowship in London for new contributors.

Apply on official site

Time left to apply

UTC

ANY

RollingNo deadline

Applications are reviewed as they arrive. There is no deadline to plan around.

Grant size: Size not published; No published ceiling
Paid in: Salary or grant; Paid in one go
Funding model: Rolling; Apply any time. Reviewed as applications arrive.
Typical decision: 8 weeks; From submission to an answer

Checked Oct 1 against 9 sources. Confirm amounts and dates on brink.dev before you apply.

About the program

Brink is a donor-funded nonprofit that supports Bitcoin protocol development. Its grant program gives established Bitcoin protocol developers year-long grants to work full-time on open-source Bitcoin projects. The main focus is the security and stability of the base protocol, but Brink also funds work on functionality, scalability and usability, including Lightning and other layer-two technology.

The fellowship is a separate, one-year, full-time program in Brink's London office for engineers new to Bitcoin protocol work. Fellows are paid a salary with benefits, get dedicated mentoring, and contribute to Bitcoin Core from day one. Brink says evidence of open-source contributions matters far more than formal education.

Both programs use a short online form with no deadline. A grant committee of experienced Bitcoin engineers reviews applications and recommends candidates to the board. In 2025 Brink spent $1,749,927 on developer salaries, grants and benefits for eight full-time engineers and two research interns.

What they fund

Security and stability of the Bitcoin base protocol
Bitcoin Core review, testing, fuzzing and maintenance
Peer-to-peer networking, build systems and dependency reduction
Cryptography research, including post-quantum work for Bitcoin
Lightning and other layer-two protocols

Who can apply

Check yourself0 of 4

Grants: established developers anywhere in the world with a record of high-quality, security-first contributions to Bitcoin or related projects
Grantees must publicly commit to deliverables and give regular public progress updates
Grantees work independently day to day and must be able to collaborate constructively with other open-source contributors
Fellowship: software engineers of any background with evidence of open-source contributions, able to relocate to London for a full year

Tick what applies to you. Saved on this device only.

How applying works

Pick a track
Choose the grant program if you are an established Bitcoin developer, or the fellowship if you are moving into protocol work.
Submit the form
Fill in the Google Form with links to your work, past open-source contributions, and the projects, deliverables and timeline you propose.
Committee review
Brink's grant committee of Bitcoin Core contributors assesses the application and recommends candidates.
Board approval
Brink's board approves recommended grants and fellowships.
Work in public
Grantees work full-time for a year and post regular public updates on their deliverables.

Sources

Checked on Oct 1 against these pages. Programs change often, so confirm the details on brink.dev before you apply.

About the program

What they fund

Who can apply

How applying works

Pick a track

Submit the form

Committee review

Board approval

Work in public

Sources

Similar programs