Btrust Developer Grants

Monthly BTC pay for Global South developers on open-source Bitcoin: six-month starter grants or renewable one-year grants.

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: BTC, monthly; Paid in one go
Funding model: Rolling; Apply any time. Reviewed as applications arrive.
Typical decision: 10 weeks; From submission to an answer

Checked Oct 1 against 10 sources. Confirm amounts and dates on btrust.tech before you apply.

About the program

Btrust was set up in 2021 with a 500 BTC donation from Jack Dorsey and Jay-Z to grow the number of Bitcoin open-source developers in Africa and the wider Global South. Its developer grants pay you monthly in BTC to work full-time on open-source Bitcoin projects such as Bitcoin Core, LDK, BDK, rust-bitcoin and Stratum V2.

There are two tracks. The Starter Grant gives newer contributors six months of full-time funding, mentoring and help writing a proposal for longer-term support. The Btrust Open-Source Cohort (long-term grants) contracts experienced contributors for a year, renewable for a second, and adds a mentor, a manager, daily team standups, hardware stipends and travel support.

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis and recipients are announced every quarter. Btrust does not publish grant amounts. In 2025 it awarded more than $2 million in grants, with 39.7% going directly to developers, and 18 grantees contributed to 15 open-source projects.

What they fund

Bitcoin protocol and Bitcoin Core development and review
Lightning and other layer-two work, such as LDK Node and LDK Server
Wallet libraries and developer tooling, such as BDK and rust-bitcoin
Mining infrastructure, such as Stratum V2 and Braidpool
Security and privacy work, such as ecash wallets

Who can apply

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Developers in Africa, India, Latin America, MENA and Southeast Asia; other Global South applicants are considered case by case based on proof of work
Work must be on open-source Bitcoin projects; Btrust keeps no fixed list of approved projects
Starter Grant: at least one merged, non-trivial code PR (not a 'good first issue'), meaningful reviews, a six-month plan and a positive word from a project mentor or contributor
Open-Source Cohort: an established contribution record, a grant proposal on Btrust's template and three references

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

How applying works

Choose a track
Apply for the six-month Starter Grant if you are new to Bitcoin open source, or the Open-Source Cohort if you already contribute steadily.
Apply on Homerun
Submit the form for your track; the cohort form asks for a proposal PDF with deliverables, timelines and three references.
Rolling review
Btrust reviews applications as they arrive and checks your contributions and references.
Quarterly announcement
New recipients are announced each quarter, for example the Q3 2026 cohort on Sep 23, 2026.
Work and get paid
You work full-time on your chosen project, are paid monthly in BTC, and get mentoring and peer support.

Sources

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

About the program

What they fund

Who can apply

How applying works

Choose a track

Apply on Homerun

Rolling review

Quarterly announcement

Work and get paid

Sources

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