Bitcoin Developer John Newbery Launches Open-Source Dev Fund

Veteran open source Bitcoin developer John Newbery just launched Brink, a new, independent organization for funding Bitcoin’s open source developer community, a key component driving the global currency and making it work.

Tuesday, Newbery and fellow Bitcoin Optech associate Mike Schmidt unveiled Brink, with prolific Bitcoin technical writer Dave Harding joining the board as independent director. Brink will dole out grants to developers working on Bitcoin projects, as well as help fledgling Bitcoin developers embark with fellowships and mentoring.

Newbery told CoinDesk that he launched Brink to “further decentralize Bitcoin development funding” and to onboard and mentor new contributors “which hasn’t been a priority for other funding organizations.”

Investors John Pfeffer and Wences Casares are providing “organization funding,” while the non-profit Human Rights Foundation, Square Crypto, and crypto exchange Gemini are funding the first two fellows; Bitcoin exchange Kraken is funding the first grant.

A huge reason Bitcoin works as a global currency at all is that developers are constantly tinkering under the hood to build and test its underlying infrastructure. Traditionally, these developers have done this work out of passion in their spare time without a paycheck.

But things are changing as more and more organizations are looking to pay Bitcoin developers. Last summer alone, at least half a dozen companies in the space announced new grants for developers. 

Brink’s funding model is a bit experimental. For the most part, Bitcoin organizations such as Chaincode and Square Crypto tend to distribute grants directly to developers from their own central funding pool.

Brink’s model is unique in that their funding comes from donations from diverse sources. 

There might be Bitcoin companies that want to support Bitcoin development, but who don’t want to have to vet developers to fund. Instead, these organizations can donate to Brink, which will vet and train developers. 

Fueling this path, Brink is applying to be the first Bitcoin organization to apply for charitable 501(c)(3) designation in the U.S., so that taxpayers can make tax exempt donations to the developers funded by Brink.  

“We will be the only organization solely devoted to Bitcoin development that takes direct donations from the public in this way,” Brink’s press release explains.