Solana Foundation Unveils New Grant For Open Source Developers

As a seasoned analyst with extensive experience in the crypto ecosystem, I’ve witnessed the crucial role that developer-centric grants play in driving innovation and growth within blockchain projects. The recent announcement by the Solana Foundation regarding its new grant for Solana Actions and Blinks tooling is an encouraging sign of the platform’s commitment to supporting builders.


The Solana Foundation has unveiled a fresh round of grants focusing on Solana Actions and Blinks Tooling. Proposals for these grants, open to developers, are particularly geared toward enhancing the user experience.

The Solana Foundation Grant Modalities

In their Thursday X update on the Solana Foundation blog, it was announced that applications are now being accepted for the latest grant program. The post reveals a total funding pool of $400,000 available to successful applicants.

The Solana Foundation is thrilled to unveil an open invitation for soliciting applications from builders for funding towards the development of tools for Solana Actions and blinks. A sum of up to $400,000 is allotted in total for this initiative.

Both new and existing projects are eligible — open source required.

Learn more

— Solana Foundation (@SolanaFndn) July 18, 2024

I’ve reviewed the grant guidelines carefully, and I want to make it clear that there isn’t a distinct category for specific developers. Instead, both new and existing projects have been explicitly allowed to apply. The only condition is that all builders involved must ensure their projects adhere to open-source principles.

As an analyst, I’d describe it this way: The Solana Foundation prioritizes complex and groundbreaking initiatives for Solana Actions and Blinks. To provide backing for projects that align with our objectives, we have identified four primary areas of focus. The first track is API Frameworks. This involves developing Actions and APIs that streamline and unify Action generation processes. Furthermore, the second track encompasses non-web clients for Blinks, including implementations on platforms such as Telegram, Discord, and Reddit, as well as innovative mobile applications for Blinks.

The safety and security infrastructure represents the third crucial aspect. It’s vital for safeguarding against hacking attempts and addressing issues like Solana Congestion, which posed significant challenges in the past.

Strict transaction standards will be implemented to help minimize scam risks in projects, along with the creation of delegate wallet systems for enhanced security. In addition, automated security auditing tools will be offered to developers under this category. Another aspect includes the implementation of social proof and identity tools, where users can display their Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as evidence of past interactions with Actions and blinks.

More Developers Grants in Crypto Ecosystem

The news about the Solana grant comes only a day after BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes unveiled Maelstrom’s first Bitcoin developer grant program. It is aimed at supporting the technical development of Bitcoin and enhancing its resilience, scalability, censorship resistance, and privacy characteristics. Currently, the fund is opened and already welcoming applications from devs, underlining August 25 as the deadline for final submissions.

The “Maelstrom Bitcoin Developer Program” surpasses the recent Solana grant in size, providing individual developers with financial rewards ranging from $50,000 to $150,000. These grants are commonly offered to motivate developers and foster innovation in the creation of decentralized applications (dApps), smart contracts, and blockchain protocols, much like what Maelstrom aims to accomplish.

Read More

2024-07-18 23:26