Human Rights Foundation Allocates $455,000 to Bitcoin Projects
The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) has awarded $455,000 in grants to twelve projects worldwide through its Bitcoin Development Fund. These grants specifically target enhancements in Bitcoin scaling, privacy, decentralization, global education, censorship-resistant communication, and community-building endeavors.
Africa and Asia are among the areas of focus for funding Bitcoin development. Since the beginning of 2020, HRF has donated over $2.7 million in both BTC and USD to support more than 80 developers, educators, and open-source initiatives across the globe.
Meron Estefanos has been selected as a grant recipient, receiving $50,000 to establish the Bitcoin Innovation Hub Uganda. The primary objective of the hub is to empower young individuals in the local community with practical skills, enabling them to become sovereign individuals.
Additionally, the hub will serve as a prominent venue for hosting local meetups, promoting Bitcoin awareness, and facilitating a conducive learning environment.
Calvin Kim has been granted $100,000 to undertake research and implementation of a peer-to-peer (P2P) protocol designed for Utreexo block and transaction messages. This initiative aims to prepare Utreexo for its mainnet launch.
Utreexo serves as a Bitcoin scaling solution, enabling quicker verification and synchronization of Bitcoin full nodes. The grant received by Kim will provide essential support for his efforts to enhance Bitcoin scaling through this project.
Calle for Cashu has been chosen as another grant recipient, securing $50,000 to advance the development of a free and open-source protocol that enables the integration of Chaumian eCash on the Bitcoin network.
The Cashu protocol aims to provide enhanced privacy features by concealing user balances and transaction history, offering users of custodial Bitcoin wallets near-perfect privacy. This initiative will contribute to empowering individuals with greater control over their financial privacy while utilizing Bitcoin.
0xB10C and Rootzoll each received $50,000 grants. 0xB10C focuses on Bitcoin Core Tracepoints, P2P monitoring, fork observer, mining pool observer, and Bitcoin data. Rootzoll develops Raspiblitz, a DIY lightning node for Raspberry Pi.
BOB Space BKK received $25,000 for their Thailand residency program, while World Liberty Congress was granted the same amount for the Freedom Academy.
Hampus Sjöberg received $25,000 for Blixt Wallet, a non-custodial open-source Bitcoin and Lightning wallet.
Additionally, Nourou received $10,000 to support Bitcoin Sénégal, a community-driven initiative that organizes meetups, produces educational content, and facilitates the adoption of Bitcoin among local merchants.
Charlene Fadirepo received $10,000 for the Bitcoin in Africa Show, while Lorraine Marcel was awarded $10,000 for Bitcoin DADA, an organization educating African women in the Bitcoin space.
HRF's Bitcoin Development Fund strives to expedite the advancement of privacy-enhancing technologies for Bitcoin users and facilitate infrastructure enhancements to foster global accessibility to Bitcoin. The next round of grants is scheduled to be unveiled in August 2023.