The Human Rights Foundation Donates to 15 Global Bitcoin Projects

The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) unveiled its latest philanthropic endeavors through the Bitcoin Development Fund. HRF has awarded 15 grants in this round, with a focus on global education, Bitcoin Core development, DLCs related to the Lightning Network, ecash technology, and providing financial assistance to developers from oppressive regimes, particularly from Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East.

This grant program consists of seven grants worth $50,000 each, five grants of $25,000 each, and three grants of $10,000 each, totaling slightly over half a million U.S. dollars or approximately 19 BTC at the time of this announcement.

This announcement follows the launch of the 20 Bitcoin bounty challenge a few months ago, bringing HRF's total contributions to the betterment of Bitcoin and the livelihoods of its developers to nearly 40 BTC since July.

To date, only the "Open Sourcing the Design Guide" bounty has been claimed, and half of the "End-to-End Encrypted Nostr Group Chats" bounty has been awarded. The bounties will remain open until December 31st, 2024, with additional updates and details available on their website.

Regarding the newly announced grant recipients:

1. Gee Deer will receive $50,000 for their work on Bitcoin Core and Lightning native stablecoins, focusing on minimizing counterparty risk and increasing decentralization using Discrete Log Contracts (DLCs).
2. Jarol Rodriguez will be granted $50,000 for contributions to Bitcoin Core, aiming to evaluate pull requests, troubleshoot issues, enhance the Bitcoin Core App, and make it feasible to operate a Bitcoin Core node on mobile devices.
3. Furszy will receive $50,000 for their contributions to Bitcoin Core, focusing on analyzing pull requests, addressing bugs, suggesting performance and code improvements, and contributing to public discussions.
4. Summer of Bitcoin will be awarded $50,000 to support their summer fellowship program, which introduces college students worldwide to Bitcoin programming and design.
5. Justin Moeller will get $50,000 to work on Fedimint, focusing on implementing a database migration system and improving ecash usage.
6. The Kawaakibi Foundation will receive $50,000 to establish a MENA Bitcoin Hub to educate activists, journalists, and organizations in repressive regions on using Bitcoin for secure transactions and fundraising.
7. Vinteum will be granted $50,000 to advance open-source Bitcoin development in Brazil and Latin America, supporting developers and cultivating Bitcoin communities.
8. D++ will get $25,000 for her work on FOSS projects and global educational activities, including talks, workshops, and maintaining Bitcoin Core.
9. Bitcoin Ekasi will receive $25,000 to create a circular Bitcoin economy in South Africa, onboarding local businesses to using Bitcoin and providing education and skill development.
10. Amiti Uttarwar will be awarded $25,000 for her efforts in Bitcoin mentoring, ADDRMAN, and Bitcoin Bytes.
11. Ben Perrin will get $25,000 to support his channel for global Bitcoin education through instructional materials, in-person and online training, and workshops.
12. La Librería de Satoshi (Library of Satoshi) will receive $25,000 to provide technical education in Spanish, enabling Spanish-speaking developers to become Bitcoin Core contributors and educators.

Additionally, HRF will provide $10,000 in travel awards to three events, facilitating the participation of Bitcoin developers from challenging political environments.

Christian Keroles, the Financial Freedom Director for HRF, emphasized the foundation's commitment to expanding access to financial technology and noted that this round of grants serves both technical and educational purposes to make Bitcoin more accessible globally, especially to those who need it most.

The Bitcoin Development Fund is open throughout the year and invites proposals from educators, developers, and meetup organizers. You can submit your proposals via email to dev.fund@hrf.org. Most of the announced grants have already been disbursed, with the remaining payouts to be made shortly.